The Sea

This picture by Sherry Lynn

A myriad of colors is seen

Capturing every facet of life:

The foam on the wave crest

Sprays forth to the sky

A vapor that envelops the air.

The long straggly sea weed,

Golden brown on the sand,

Looks from a distance to have been

Left there by some wayfaring seaman,

Who docked at this port long ago.

The little mole crab within the sand

Scurries to hide in the tide,

While over head a jillion or so

Of those wingéd creatures that soar,

Float up in the air to come down again—

Riding the currents to glide.

Off in the distance

And against the blue sky,

A dark speck of little motion

Breaks the endless horizon

That is formed by the sky and the sea.

As it comes closer in view,

Its shape and size are seen

To be that of a freighter

Returning to port with its load.

Along the sandy shore there is found

Innumerable trinkets and jewels from the deep;

Each by itself is a world of color—

A kaleidoscope of textures and hues,

Evoking emotions, one of a kind.

The soft, surfy sand now gives way

To a more rugged coastline:

The waves with a frury intense

Catapult their entirety upon the rocks,

Thundering white foam from the blue.

The air is alive with the sound and the smell of the sea:

The thundering surf, the keenness of air.

And the spray on the intransigent rocks.

The sun in the tidal pool reflects

A rainbow of intense, vivid colors

From the aquatic specimen harbored therein,

Living on such a thin, frail string of survival.

Alone I stand, facing this awesome power,

Vast and perpetual and deep—

Old as the earth, witness to many an island's birth.

But who can say of it that it is old?

For it is renewed through the powers of God:

Through the sun and its purifying rays;

Through the rain and its life-giving water so free;

Through the rivers and winds in their God-planned ways—

Each add a continuance to the continual miracle, the sea!

- D. Benning

Yep, it was this long ago!

5-12-1978