I stood by the shore,
Watching the waves pass through,
feeling its currents go against my feet.
The force was strong.
The water was cold.
My toes gripped firmly to the sand.
I could not move forward.
I did not want to move forward.
If it's this much here,
it must be worse there.
Little did I know that,
what lies ahead is better.
For as you go deeper,
water embraces more of your parts--
your body adapts to its temperature.
And there, the waves once so intimidating are calm.

I am here waiting for you
on the soft white sand of father's beach
and in open water, you float
thrashed by the waves

Do you remember your promise
on that fated early morning?
Whipped and judge by the Manta ray
to remember this in the light of day.

of the molecules of the water they will
swim in, that flow by my citybounded
abode in a tidal estuary
heading fir dispersal and aspersions
into the Great Atlantic Ocean
which I will visit
come the spring,
and are etched yet then
within the relentless
waves of the those very same atoms, upchurning and upspitting
white foam which will
very lively likely contain
new poems, perhaps,
perhaps even,
those writ by fish
in their dreams,
for who actually knows
the original origins
of the dreams
we drink daily,
not I,
who finds them
when the wet smoke of
fog of evaporated
water
kisses my lips!

P. S. perhaps I have written poems
authored by the very same fish
you held in your grasp once upon
a time in a photo)

A sea like no other sea.

Theater of the Odyssey,

and of Cleopatra and Anthony.

The sea  

of war and of peace.

Cradle of known civilizations,

and jealous keeper of secrets

of civilizations yet unknown.



To me, it is simply

the sea

where I took my first swim,

panicked and sunk like a stone,

pulled down by the wrath of Poseidon,  

that eternally angry god of the Greeks,

who, it was said, lived a thousand fathoms below.

But a strong hand quickly snatched me, lifted me up,

and at the surface I saw a reassuring face smiling at me.

My father was standing in chest deep water,  

and I heard him saying,

“son, you got to keep your legs and arms moving.”



To me, it is simply

the sea  

where I fell in love with the Mediterranean blue,

where I lingered long summer hours at the shore

lazily dreaming,

about people and lands  

beyond the faraway infinite line,

that elusive border  

separating two magical shades of the azure.

A little girl, sitting by the ocean.
She's quietly listening to the tides.
Making her forget all the commotion.
The sound would take over, thoughts leave through sighs.

As she grew up she searched for that soft tune.
In every little thing that she could find.
Until stars aligned in the afternoon,
And the universe said we were divined.

Love, you remind me of the very thing,
That I adore than most all on the earth.
So it's you to whom I'll be listening.
It's your music that's making my days worth.

Now I stay basking in your soothing waves.
My ocean, promise you'll hold me always.

I know the power of the rising tide
For beneath my feet rests the shifting sands of time
Always ebbing and flowing the water dost erode
Each wave tugging and pulling
The tiny grains betwixt my toes

As the surf rises my foundations wither
Casting evil eye to swollen sea my thoughts swell bitter
When my balance is interrupted by systematic crashes
Gradually displacing and replacing
My position along its axis

Until finally I am interred within that salty tomb
Buried under heavy weight of time ne’er to be exhumed
Less the tide decide to recede and expose
The monument to a man
Who had once claimed to know

when she loves,
she spills over.
she makes a mess,
a mud puddle.
so, lover, be creative
to stay afloat.
if you must bring
a boat and a paddle because
the way she loves drowns—
heart always full, lungs out of breath.
your ribs expand
to take in some air.
your sigh, despair
of loving instead.
maybe like her old flames, soon, you too
would wish
her love burns less.
but, she is meant to engulf all,
like the waves that hit the shore
with unrelenting energy.
she is meant
to be consumed
by the whole of your body.
no, she cannot water down her love
for you, for anybody.
and so, lover,
just hold her steady.
any less is unworthy.

We are but sand upon the waves,
sliding slowly until the night arrives.
But every step we take together
leaves footprints that can live for centuries.

You talk about the tides
And your love for the sea.
As I listen in silence,
My mind is wondering
                      Are you ready to dive into
The Ocean that secretly resides
In the depths of my heartstrings?

Because my love isn't shallow,
It's a wave that runs deep.
Yet, I delicately dance
                      Around the shores of you
Because I see that you
Could be the Ocean too.

And inside this current
                       Of hope flowing is a
Wonderful, beautiful, terrifying thing.

So I'm waiting and watching to see
Who will take the first plunge -
                        Will it be you or will it be me?

Or maybe this time
                         Your wave of love inside
            Won't be afraid
                         To crash into mine.
             Together, forming
                         One massive riptide.

©KSS 9/2018