On Loss

We lose our way when we lose our sense of right,
We lose our days like we lose each night,
We lose whatever it is that we are trying to find,
We lose the struggle for sanity as we lose our minds.

An old man walked along the beach
Each day. He would walk a few steps
Then stop and turn to look out at the sea.
The ocean whispered to him in words
Created by waves... soft, slow sounds.
The wind tossed his thinning hair all around.
He thrust his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

People would talk about him, mostly tourists.
They said that he was looking for something he had lost.

But one look at him and I knew...

I knew they were wrong. He was not looking
out at the ocean for the answers he might find.

He gazed longingly at the water like a lover might.
He was throwing his heart wide
Hoping that the waves would carry a little
of his sorrow and grief away with the tide.
Yes, I knew,
because I have felt that way too...

9.30.1998