Poetry

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Children playing by the ocean...
Their laughter sparkling in the air like the sunlight
On the edges of the breaking waves.
As I watch, all their beach games become ultimately one game.
The same game played by generations of sandy-kneed children before them:
To hold back the relentless waves with a fortress of sand.

They scuttle purposefully about the beach,
Their earnest hands busily constructing the walls of their great castle.
Suddenly alarmed cries ring out
As the first waves begin to lick the foundation of their doomed citadel.
With no help in sight their work takes on a frantic urgency.

Perhaps it was the child within me
That reminded me of my own childhood struggle with these same waves
And was calling me to battle once again.
Or perhaps it was the adult wanting to hold back the inevitable
If only for a few minutes;
Either way their cries of dismay awoke the "hero" within me
To rescue them in their furious labor.

Trenches are quickly dug with tunnels to funnel the water.
Like a seasoned foreman I bark out orders
To my eager little band of sand crabs
As we joyfully continue our foolish quest.
The hours passed like minutes
With no reward save the laughter and smiles of shared play.

With cruel intent the waves relentless onslaught
Washed away our valiant labors.
Yet, as I stood there looking into the faces
Of my little “beach-children”
There was no defeat in their eyes...only gratitude
And from their mouths issued no discouragement
Only pure joy and laughter.

Suddenly, I thought how I was like those children
Struggling earnestly against the "waves" of the world
And how I also have a wise and benevolent "Hero" to help me.
And in that precious moment I took the earnest
But foolish and self-important belief that my happiness
Lie in my being victorious over the world's waves.
And traded it for a day on the "beach" with my divine HERO!

And then I laughed with pure joy and gratitude!

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