the shore as she

The sand softens – shifts –

against my sole’s step,

as She and I stroll the shore.

We shared this beach, She and I.

Caught happiness on crests of waves;

in sun rays, sought tans and solace.

These sea swept shores of fresh

starts and clean slates

served hope in times of sadness.

Softly, the sand shifts

Beneath my sole;

impressed steps, stilled.

I squat beside the sea

to coax, with gritty hands,

the sand to shape a castle.

A step away, I spy

a sand dollar, and

scramble to snatch it.

The waves swallows the shell

and smashes it beneath its crest,

scattering shrapnel between my toes.

So, too, the crashing wave storms;

collapsing the sovereign castle to a

sandy shadow of itself.

My steps fill with saltwater.

The history upon the sand

- erased. No trace.

Shell seekers shuffle past

remnants of spire, shell and self.

Unwanted. Unvalued. Unmemorable.

The foe – the relentless certainty

of waves - show no remorse

as I see the shore as She.

Fresh starts no more,

The sea’s sweep is savage

Scattering, collapsing, erasing Her.

She is the sand of

sea swept mornings,

unsure of what survives

Sunrise. Her reflection. She stares

At herself? Or at Her shell?

In soft blue eyes, uncertainty swells.

Unsure of all that seems,

washing her face, silently, She

feels the shift of her soul

Silent, hushed, family pass: spurn Her,

seeking no shell, feel no shift. Stroll on,

as disease and time sweep Her away.

Subdued and shaken,

sundered and still,

for someone, She feels.

Steady - or straining - I am there

To share the sojourn on the shore

Too soon shortened by slipping cells.

Still shots inside my mind

Of her Light and love

and lingering laugh.

She and I, laced fingers,

stroll the shore.

And I see the sand and sea and She

Shift. Slip. Smash.

Suffer. Snatch. Succumb.

Be Stilled. Be scattered. Be shunned.

Tonight, in sleep, while the tide sweeps,

With shallow breaths, She & I weep

for tomorrow’s empty shore.