Life Is Full of Sweet Spots

Just to look─

to look

at the sea,

to follow its comings and goings,

is to see beyond memory,

beyond life, before and after the beginning

of death.

 

Just to think─

to think

about the sea,

to ponder its waves, is to find

there is more, more than souls can account for,

than every creature, any tiny little beast,

can grasp.

 

Just to know─

to know

the sea and its beginning,

the start of bones and breathing,

of stones and stories and dreams,

is to understand that as long as the sea

comes ashore, earth will never be still.

 

Just to wonder─

to wonder

where the sea goes,

from where it returns,

is to debate eternity,

to open tide pools, to harvest

a million eggs.

 

Just to feel─

to feel

the pull of the sea,

the rush of its insistent ride,

is to be caught in the primordial

draw of life, the multiplication

of species, of survival.

 

Just to love─

to love

the sea and renewal,

its distillation of the sun,

of inner space, of the blue,

is to enjoy calm, peace and ease,

that is enough.

*   *   *

Rocks off Newport, RI — Photo and poem by Mary O’Connor © 2017