We first connected

Before my memories begin

The essence of you

Breathing beneath my skin.

Rising and falling,

Shallow and deep,

Rhythmically inspired

Expansion and release.

Present long before my arrival

And long after my eventual decline,

Inspiring and supporting

With freedom to define.

One Source

All connected

Eternally Divine.

 

I am grateful

For the life lessons you taught

Along the way.

How you retreat

Twice a day,

Exposing tide pools

Filled with starfish and anemone

Developing my imagination

And curiosity,

And even bravery,

As I explored as far in

As you would allow

Inside your home

While you were out…

Seeking to know more deeply

What you were about.

Upon your return

Your edges lapped at my shins

My awakeness

And numbing

Co-exist.

As you rush to greet me

Your embrace,

Bracingly cold.

Feeling your presence

Intense and bold

Then, the emotions of our reunion

Quickly submerged,

As numbness

Takes hold.

 

I build sandcastles along the shore

Meticulously,

As you teach

That creation,

No matter the effort

Or beauty,

Is all temporary.

I can resist

And try to save it

Or submit to your changes

By offering it up as a gift.

Sometimes you soften the edges

Before erasing it,

Sometimes swiftly

And catastrophically

Reclaiming it.

 

You also deposit treasures

At my feet.

Driftwood sculptures

And tangled seaweed,

Translucent agates

And tumbled sea glass.

Their turbulent journey

Leading to this moment

Of discovery.

Fragile sand dollars

Sometimes miraculously intact,

Having survived

The impact.

Others broken in half

Freeing the skeletal bird inside

Proving that even after

Catastrophic breaks

That which we hide within

Is actually designed

To help us fly.

Perhaps my attraction

To collecting seashells

Is a nod of recognition

To the discarded carcasses

And outgrown shelters -

Nostalgic remnants

From where we have come,

Providing contrast

Against what we have Become.

 

I learned to dance and twirl

Within your waves

And how to let go

And float

When stillness is craved.

Floating on your surface

I get a glimpse inside

The world within

Hidden from sight.

Disarmed as I experience

Where my fear

And truth

Collide.

Instinctively guided

As the tide rises

And falls.

Cradled in your arms

Swaying gently side-to-side

I experience your maternal instincts

As you rock me to sleep.

 

I learned to scream

Under cover of your turbulent roar.

And to never turn my back

In the presence of Power.

For deep below

May lie a violent undertow

With a malevolent intention

Of taking me

In another direction.

Just as with my own

Shadow self,

There is a wildness

Under your surface

Behind curtains of kelp,

A hint of danger

As we glimpse our Purpose.

 

Communing with you

Is my sacred space.

Your saltwater

From the same Source

As the tears on my face.

You interconnect the entire globe

We have much to learn

From all that you hold.

It is such a comfort

To meet along the shore

Returning to home

My Truth restored.