1.
churning ocean
low tide, warm
tug on my calves
i resist the pull
down, toward shore
push on to the break
watching, waiting
a foaming force to
embrace my stomach
i turn to swim
smiling, riding
a salt rush to shore
slow, lovely glide
in the sparkling
warm sea

2.
we walk south
and enter --
the water is warm
then cold
my skin shrinks
i remember
when i was seven
we did this then
i rode the waves
a tiny body
caught up in the
storming sea

stood up
saw my father
his smile, and mine
ready to do it again
that is the hope
i wish for my daughter
the will
to do it again
be a lighthouse
on her rocky shore:
shake out the sand
and face the sea

let go,
let it flow back
a warm salt rush
the pull, the push
the most beautiful
excitement
and powerful force
to be hers again