After the Storm

After the storm

We searched the beach for oracles

The telling of shells

Treasures tossed by waves
Relentless as heartbeat
We looked to the sky for omens
Birds flying together
Pelicans falling, wings folded, into the surf

The door closed behind you

Waves rolled back from the sand
Without return
Small pieces left behind,
Broken, iridescent in the sun

What is ugly is left by hands

Other than divinity
The storm has its own beauty
Fierce, unrelenting

Starfish formed constellations

Birds hung wing-wide against the wind
Surf shattered into foam
Fragments form the whole
 

I walked on the beach against the gale --

the sting of salt --
Until I forgave you.
Forgave myself
Until I understood
The oracle is within
There is perfection in broken pieces.

When the storm ends the sea calms

The waves washed answers to my steps
Smoothed away the anger
Temper, when we speak of steel, means strong
The ocean, too, is crucible

The storm is over

Castles and conventions untraceable
It is no longer for you to come back
But for me to go forward.