While Lasting Love Eludes Me

This ocean is mine, the wind is mine.

In its towering crescendo, the roaring of waves is mine.

When at that seaside table you leaned over, our eyes had briefly met.

We were two strangers in that silence of time.

But the universe worked in concert to bring us together.

This ocean was my soul, the wind was my breath.

In its crashing waves, I heard the beating of my own heart.

In the wink of an eye, we became entangled and interwoven.

I'll never forget how your eyes look in the sunlight,

gleaming like two deep blue wells.

I was ready to drown in them without batting an eye.

Get lost and don't ask for help.

The ocean was my love, the wind was my desire.

My ship was sailing in the deep blue of your gaze

You were the wind that propelled my sails

You were the tide that carried me ahead.

I was captivated by the promise over the horizon.

We were two grains of sand drawn together by the wind.

Two droplets in an enormous sea of existence.

But at that moment, we were one.

That feeling -- I would not give it up for all of Davy Jones' treasure.

The beach is my witness, the sea is my confessor.

Your deep low voice was a pure joy simply because it came from you.

I haven't forgotten those early-morning highlights the sun painted across your smiling face.

It all came together in a single, fleeting instant.

The world, with its groaning wheels and weary merchants,

had brought us to the same focal point;

we were joined for an infinitesimal fraction of time

and then you were gone.

You walked away with the tide and left me standing on the shore.

I was a fool to think it would last longer.

In the daylight hours, I can almost pretend that you're not gone.

But at night, when the moon is high and the waves are low,

I hear the melody of my heartbreak.

Yes, I'm aware that you're

somewhere out there, sailing among the stars.

And in my dreams, we go sailing together.

Yet I am alone. Alone.

The wall of the sea crashes against my sadness.

The wind blows through my hair,

burning my eyes with the briny air.

But I am at ease here.

This is my refuge, my sanctuary.

It is where I go to reflect and recall you;

those memories are like gleaming shards of broken glass.

The waves are my tears, the wind is my lament.

But even in this pain, I find comfort.

For here, in this place where we met,

I am reminded that you existed.

You were real.

And that is enough for me.

. . .

© by Irina Patterson, December 19, 2021

video clip provided by the author, Irina Patterson

. . .

Thank you, you can find more of my writing here. Love, Irina

An earlier version of this poem was published on Medium.