I’ve always loved the ocean.
The way it cradles the shore with gentle waves,
Glinting under the pale moonlight.
How it hums a lullaby, steady and soothing,
pulling at my heartstrings with every flow.

The canvas of blue is endless,         
Shifting hues on the horizon.
A mirror to the soul, vast and unfathomable.

On Rarotonga, in the Cooks,
an oasis guarded by coral reefs—  
adrift in the vast blue ocean.  
Open, unyielding, yet few  
can approach.  
Only those who know the way.  

At Manawatāwhi,
Demoiselles and Māomao
—names painted on fish—  
dart as bottlenose dolphins leap.  

Even the strong succumbs to storms.
The mourning mother  
will never see her son again.
He lies on the shallow white sand,  
now nature’s artifact.  

And the sorrow of loss
lingers only  
in those who echoed.

What is love,
if not told to the heavens?
What I feel for you,
is locked deep in the ocean.
The more I know you,
the Deeper I go into your forest.
What I want is not empty,
like weathered plains.
It’s not murky nor dead,
as I step through your swampy past.
It’s whole and true,
as the smell of rain in April.
Its beauty is among the sun,
in spring.
All I want for you,
for us.
Is an adventure,
of love everlasting.

Let me wash myself in the current of your gentle waters,
Where the caress of your wave’s cleanses not just my skin,
But the very essence of who I am, leaving me reborn.
Let me drink deeply from the fountain of your love,
Each drop a sweet elixir that quenches a thirst of my soul,
Pour me till it fills the emptiness within me,
Leaving me to drown in the endless ocean of your love.

Let me gaze in the garden you’ve nourished with your grace,
Wandering through fields where flowers bloom in your name,
Their petals soft as your whisper,
Their fragrance a memory of your embrace.
Each leaf trembles like my heart when I’m near you,
A delicate dance, swayed by the gentleness of your breath.

Let your waters be the salve to my hidden wounds,
Healing what time and tears have left behind,
A soothing touch that mends the fractures of my past.
Let your waves rise not in anger, but in tender embrace,
Washing away the doubts that cloud my mind,
Leaving only the clarity of your love’s light.

Let your water be easy on me,
If your love must surge like a powerful tsunami,
Let it sweep away the old and usher in the new,
Breaking down walls I’ve built in fear,
Only to rebuild me stronger, closer to you.
Carry me on your tides to distant shores,
Where we can build and live out our dreams,
A place where every sunset is a promise,
And every sunrise, a renewal of the vows we’ve made in our hearts.

Let me sail upon your waters,
Guided by the stars reflected in your eyes,
To an island where milk and honey flow,
A paradise sculpted by the tides of your love,
A sanctuary where my heart finds its eternal home,
In the depths of your unwavering devotion.

A faint feeling of deja vu
A feeling, that I've been here before
But did something different
Something better than what I managed

I reel in the waves of my own mind
Crashing in on themselves
A never-ending circular sea
Hurdling through the depths of space

After minutes spanning hours
I come back to myself
Or at least the one present here
Observing with a skewed awareness

A last rolling wave washed over me
Something calming and refreshing
With just the right amount of power
To firmly hold me yet not threaten me

And it was just that, I thought
I was only observing life
Present, yet a mere passerby
Even in my own actions

I was watching someone else's life unfold
From the first-person view
And lately I didn't like
The direction they were taking

For a moment I felt the warmth of the sun
If only briefly in my mind
As if for the very first time I noticed
The boundless vitality it possessed  

And indeed, I did possess it too

I left behind a home
Though one in only name
I know not what I search for
But couldn’t stand it be the same
To be bound was to be free
In the confines of a cell
Yet to be free is to be bound
By no good that I can tell

In taking to the seas
I hoped for some great change
But found that all things blended
And only varied in their range
I had not found myself
Among the waves or great white coast
I thought a path had opened
But it vanished as a ghost
No one or thing could remedy
The hurt I fostered close
No one or thing could change it
But the one was wounded most

So here across the Farrow Sea
I pull a dagger from my heart
Here on distant shores I sit
A world and man apart

Humans on celestial bodies, if you exist, this is a message to you
In a billion plus a million years, when you find this book hidden in your sands
You'll close your eyes to imagine the beauty of the Earth,
Know that the sun once shined so bright it made our skin glow
The bodies of water hugged the Earth,
All while the moon and stars gave us hope

Humans on celestial bodies, if you exist, this is a message to you
Don’t be cruel to your 'Earth' like we once were
Let the tides of the ocean play with you until they knock you down
Just to look up at the stars as they light up the night sky
Remember, everything exhausting energy will some day die
Leave something so your souls won't look back and….

- Henessy J. Beltre