The Sea

Here we are, on the beach, wind in our hair, saltwater and each other's kisses on our lips.

Look, there on the horizon where sea meets sky, that's what a false promise looks like.

Here be dragons, they said, of the ever-changing sea.

Still you are drawn, unable to resist its promises, promises of adventure, of danger, of endless possibility.

The sea, whispering endlessly in perilous invitation:
Come, sail off into the sunset, go where the winds may lead;
Might you dive for pearls, for forgotten galleons, for lost Atlantis in the deep?
Would you brave the sirens, Leviathan's jaws, the grasp of the Kraken so long asleep?
Whom might you meet, Jonah in a whale, mermaids fair, old Poseidon himself?

A fickle mistress, the sea, she'll toss you away when she tires of you. Turn away, my love, stop your ears and harden your heart. Stay, my love, and let the steamer that brought you depart in the morn.

The scent of you is still on my pillow, your warmth still on the sheets.

Here I am, on the beach, saltwater not from the sea on my cheek.

Look, there on the horizon, where sea meets sky, that's what a false promise looks like.