Tuesday, May 8, 2012

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.


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