Age

We are in the ocean
        the ebb and flow
        the push and pull
        the rocking to and fro
        like a human metronome.

We see it rise
        and still we are unprepared
        when the wall of waves comes bearing
        down, knocking our feet into the air.
        Its roar deafens; it blinds us by its glare.

The wave recedes--
        its foamy fingers claw furtively in sand
        trying desperately to hold onto the land
        before being hauled back into the sea's command
        leaving behind only the debris of the damned.

Whole houses left abandoned--
         a lifetime of wishes and burdens
         whorled together and curdled
         into hardened ears that hear the gurgle
         of days ordinary and days uncertain.


While deep beneath the sea
         the wave recoils, slipping through
         bony fingers growing from the ocean slough,
         roiling past silver threads of minnow schools,
         diving deep into nameless depths murky and blue.

Here deep sea demons haunt:
         behemoth beasts stalk stealthily,
         giant tube worms suck, vampire squids boogie,
         spider crabs skitter, wolffish howl hoarsely,
         fangtooth fish crack open their quarry.

Still admist the gloom,
         bioluminescence blooms warm and white
         like stars emerging in the nascent night;
         jellyfish float like angels in flight
         luminous and velvety as a newborn's delight.

In the dark, a cauldron bubbles,
         new life forever rises in the silence
         orbs of vapor carrying the earth's essence
         until at last, it breaks at the surface
         under the watch of the sun's bright brilliance.