After the waves



After the waves have crashed over my head

waves of passion

waves of pain

tossing me over and around

they retreat

sucking sand out from under my toes

until gentle ripples play and

make new patterns in the sand.


They leave gifts for the keeping

kelp ripped by the roots from its rock in the deep

a stone hollowed out

a stick carved smooth and strange

a shell solitary without its twin

lying open.


After the waves retreat

the sand becomes a mirror

until the stars over my head

shine also under my feet

and I stand in infinite space.