The sunrise of youth

Warmed the green crystal of Atlantic shallows.

Life splashed and sparkled,

Teasing the sands that anchored time.

Beached hours spent

In dreams afloat on hope’s horizon.

The sunburn of puberty’s rashness

Healing in the shadows of maturity.

Strength reflected in reality’s glare.

Courage launched onto silver seas

Through waves of doubt

On an outward tide.

Afternoon labor under diminished sail,

To alter an unalterable course,

Evading the exposed and abandoned hulks

Of wrecked endeavors.

Oceans crossed; no harbor found

In the dying winds of twilight.

Becalmed now in darkness,

Tethered to the cold certainty of Pacific depths.