I take my tears to the ocean,

but I do not bathe in them;

I give them back to the sea

to nourish insights that lie dormant in the depths

until I am ready for them.

I write my dreams in the sand,

For I know the incoming tides will change their shapes

and refine their edges

for the outgoing tides to reveal something more 

beautiful than I could have imagined. 

I meditate on the movement of the waves,

they happen in their own time,

governed by forces beyond my capacity,   

leaving perspective as the only thing I can control,

and a choice to learn how to roll with them.

Standing on the shore,

I feel right-sized in the presence of the horizon,   

neither powerless nor influential,

just present to the vastness of life,

subsuming my experiences into purpose.

© 2024 D. Phoenix-Wilcox