whene’er I walk
the sea at dawn –
and wonder to the waves
what sailor might have sailed
from here
with not a thought to save

as restless spills
and ripples wash
from me the past is gone
tossed upon
some distant shore
or glistened still with foam

for one alone
and waited me
the journey to defend –
a story almost written
we surely tell again

as breezes blown
across my face –
my dress of cotton lace
remembers still
another time
I came to know this place

before the day
where sunset burned
as brightly as today –
where twilight danced above
the tides
to sweep my breath away

as silence keeps
a softer name than e’er I dare
repeat –
forgotten as were
broken shells
left scattered at my feet

rise and fall
and rise again –
be swift my love to learn
of messages rewritten here
awaiting our return

across the way
across the map –
dark and deep and dear
sighs are falling
somewhere else –
to echoes living here

. . .