Life Happens (Paean to the Sea)

persistent crashing roars,
waves resound between
cool, gentle breeze-breaths
meandering about the shore;
clear skies shine a fragrant,
salty elixir, inciting gulls
to peck at the moist
sand, seeking a dab or two;
three or four yards out
in the refreshing Pacific waters,
a seal lazily floats, bobbing
on the rolling current, fins
sticking up, occasionally
snorting out a gleeful guffaw
as a pelican skims over
the surface before rising
into the morning only
to plummet into the sea and emerge
with a meal; two dolphins repeatedly
surface in the same calm spot,
clicking, whistling and giggling as they
circle each other; the sun's heat
wrings sweat right out
from my pores, so I wade
into the sea; a group
takes turns laughing and groaning
at their paddle ball games'
results; a fishing boat cuts
through choppy waters halfway
between shore and horizon as I
body surf cresting breakers'
faces which regularly rise
in sets; soon I recline,
face down on my towel, rising heat
enveloping me as it reflects off billions
of tiny grains; I recall days
thirty-five years ago with friends
sharing these same pursuits until
my eyes doze closed, allowing
reflective gleams' visions:
sparkling points gleaming off wave
tips amid the eternal ebb
and flow - the tides’
unremitting regularity;
I hear a mother call her baby
boy to discover wonders
and open my eyes to see
flickering motion picture frames:
a toddler who will take my place
swimming on the currents eddying here
and there when, fifteen years
hence, I will not be
able to do what comes
so naturally to him; still,
I cry out my rebellion, "I will not cease
to surf these waves," and I recall
the scent rising off gleaming bodies
before suntan lotion morphed
into numbered grades of cancer
preventing sun block; my mind opens
to two blackbirds on center stage
carefully tiptoeing over the sand
pecking order here and there -
then, a double-take reveals
two lithe, supple, young ladies,
clad in black bikinis with bronze
bodies and long dark hair, sunning
where the two crows had strolled
only a moment before; they soak up
the young mens' stares and sing
conversations, youthful voices
expressing the twenty-year-old earnest
concern for every moment's poignancy
and the significance in every fantasy
and action; out on the sea a gull sits,
unconcerned with thought or deed,
content in a moment like no other:
every instant throughout eternity's
reverent re-creation; this gull and I lock
eyes into a fused sympathy, erasing
my mental slate but flooding the gull's
emotional storm into my memory; sweet
surrender to smiles and tears and laughter
and anguish blots out the sun and every
distinctive inkling separating sand
grains; breath hangs suspended; the waves
stand still; only one cozmic current
hums in my ear; a siren silently beckons
her plea: immerse myself again, again;
I wade, then dive and swim
in the ocean; salty flavors wash
over my tongue; the seal nears
and playfully barks a dare, venture
out as far as he, maybe
a challenge, perhaps
derision; this is his playground -
not fit for me; and the dolphins
dance and twirl, they jump
and submerge at my feet, the gull
lands and bobs while wind-whipped
waves crash in white foam;
one black bikini adorned girl slinks
off her top, avoiding tan
lines; is it the same toddler, now
eight, who wanders away
from his mother to playfully romp
and jump in the surf; and even
as the Earth rotates, the horizon
never moves an inch
further distant; the waves'
tempo never wavers off beat;
I in the water,
I on the sand;
I the witness,
I destiny’s hand;
I the chronicle,
I the vision;
I, the voice in my mind’s ear,
remark, "to suggest
thinking proves
existence is like looking
into a mirror;" echoes
and reflections unclothe imagination,
offering no edifying glimpse
into a tangible ever-present
unbound by definitions, unproven
by formulas or incisions; feeling
distinct resides in hallucination, only
Unity and Love crystallize serene
bliss in every footprint made
while life happens