When the sea breathes

When the Sea breathes
Hot winds of stress
Worry my hair
Pulling and tugging at my face
Wearing and working at the signs of care
Bother and strife stumble my step
Sands of doubt cling at my feet
Dragging away enthusiasm
And encouraging defeat
The sun burns pain across my back
Beating all sense from my head
Crushing reason, smothering clarity
Until all ability to think is dead
Slowly I slog head bowed in despair
Dragging a beaten body onward
Fatalistic acceptance of this toil
Not stopping, only going forward
A cool breeze of hope whispers
Cooling heated brow and eyes
A glimmer of mercy murmurs
Sighing softly behind seagull cries
The damp sand firms my step
Lending a steady calm to my feet
Letting a bowed back straighten
As the first waves comes to me to greet
Cold bights the water of reality
Bathing aching feet in fiery embrace
Lifting my head into the cool calm
So determination picks up my pace
A weathered rock beckons with ancient patience
So I sit my exhaustion beginning to drain
My eyes caught by laughing sparkles
Dancing across the briny main
Slow my heart, be still I command you
Let us listen to the ocean seethe
Let your beat be guided gently
And breathe
So ancient and timeless
Sometimes gentle
At times so violent
The blue planet
Spinning so quietly in a giant space
Will breathe with you
So be quiet my soul fill with grace
Be still my heart
Let my thoughts slowly dwindle
And my strife die silent
When the sea breathes
©Rob Reid – painted dog Aug 2016