-- A Name in Sand --

John Herlihy

In tracking our footprints there in the sand,

We track our own nature every bit as grand.

As we pursue an idle pastime along the shore,

We end up having glimpses of something more.

Who has not enjoyed child’s play on a grand scale,

Building sand-castles or carefully shaping a whale.

How I loved such endeavors, not the artifice to keep,

To see waves wash it away as overhead skies weep.

Warm outpourings from the heart’s secret places,

Love sonnets to one’s lover drawn from stick traces.

Intense love-verses consecrated to a woman’s name,

All mercilessly wash away down the ocean’s drain.

We sit on a stone feeling lost in view of a great ocean,

Feeling the overpowering lure of its subtle magic potion.

As though tracking our own nature in its wayward course,

Seeking to understand ourselves but feeling some remorse.

Go ahead, take a stick and draw your name in the sand,

As statesmen and potentates have done across the land.

Return, then, in an hour or two and seek out your name;

You will soon learn what the ocean has done to your fame.

A brief glance into nature’s soul, not expecting to be observed;

To discover hidden revelation, we would be wise to preserve.

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(c) John Herlihy 7 April 2020