HERE IT ALL COMES BACK

the sea reminds me
every time, i come here
of what it means; beginnings and endings
i go there to stand  and watch
as the waves come in and out, almost like
breathing, water is life, like me, we communicate
with each other, somehow we relate
memories in the form of grains of sand
wash ashore, laid at my feet to peruse over
once more, each a piece of memory, establishing itself
something old, lost, long forgotten
but i remember, here it all comes back
over and over like ripples on a wave
flooding me with images, reminding me
i am human, filled deep with all emotions
that push and pull, like an ebb and flowing tide
to make me, who i am, make me feel to
bring me back, if only right here and now
to people and places, i thought were lost
i took them for granted, here they live and breathe
in the only way they can, here they communicate
to me, with the sea as my bridge between of what
is real and what is a dream i want to forget, either way i am
buoyant able to carry on, water as salvation, saves me

by Michael Perry