Manzanita
Sun peeks in on you first
Wind rolls back fog blankets
Reeds rattle soft music
Sea nuzzles you with gentle surf
Mountains cradle you
Breathing from sand gills
You waken gently “little apple” of Nature’s eye
Waves ride in like cavalry on misty-maned horses
Flocking birds move cat-like across the sky
Driftwood burrows in to rest in peace
Rivulets return to sea
All roads eventually lead back to you
When we’ve run off to the edge
Been pushed to our limit
To whisper away secrets as blowing sand
Shout out confessions as ocean roar
Fathers arrive playing Daddy for the afternoon
New couples hoping for kids throw sticks to puppies
Old couples with canes walk wizen dogs remembering adult children moved away
Marriages swing by for the weekend hoping to mend years of spite
Lovers consummate trysts with etched initials in cliff walls
City slickers run from career paths, families, responsibilities
Footprints from running shoes unloading regret step-by-step
Washed away by forgiving surf
As friends we rally here with you again
Sharing memories, stories of travel, relationships
Seeing ourselves in the mirror of old faces
We are callow youth still after so many years
Struggling for success
Plaintive with melancholy knowing we haven’t shared more camaraderie
Guilty that we didn’t want to
At dusk eyelids grow heavy
Sun shrinking away into the horizon
Off to another charge
Moon becomes your watchman
Driven by lunar tidal pull
I collect your straightest driest sticks
Wondering if you’ll finally let me roll fire
Fire that I could not build as a young child
Fire that will say I am resourceful
Fire that will show I am passionate
Fire that will prove I am alive
I remember you, record you, convey you for yourself
But most of all as missive to those I am most missing
Written by hand without a backspace key
On rarest parchment
Signed “I love you” in gorgeous calligraphy font
Our fleeting moments together are not traceable
Cannot be logged, monitored, or rate-limited
Our connection is the link between nature and the web of human life
Running horizontally through soul mates from husband to wife
Running vertically through generations from daddy to daughter
Recorded herein as a reminder of everlasting loyalty, presence, and love
I come to you to say thank you for all I have and to those who show me unrequited kindness
I come to you because you are forgiving and generous and always remember
I come to you because your love and beauty and strength and tenderness are deep and endless as the ocean
