A Wave Lies Within
By John Herlihy

At first, a gathering of forces,
Learning everything by touch,
Then seeing things in their full wonder,
Fluid waters flow gently like a brush.
As I grow from childhood to adolescence,
The growing surge was unmistakable.
Does everyone feel the same way I do?
I see sparkles when I close my eyes;
In my torso a growing sense of power.
As though ready to lift oneself aloft,
From the precipice, the brink, the edge,
My thoughts pursue an indistinct pledge.

One thing, however, has come very clear;
There is a growing wave that lies within.
My moods are sometimes cumbersome,
Ripples on the water with ups and downs.
My intentions are filled with fortitude,
Well placed like elbows, ankles and knees.
The body moves as a fluid sculpture,
The mind-body life happens with ease.
The crest of the wave is soon upon me,
Reaching a pinnacle finally in middle age.
The rush of the wave has frothy white,
The beginning of the end coming into sight.

Living has turned into a true wonder,
Life became so much more than plunder.
Sometimes to sigh, sometimes to cry,
Never having the audacity to ask why.
Do we ask why the wave has a crest?
Do we know where it will come to rest?
The wave finally breaks as never before,
Frothy white bubbles are breaking galore.
Sea waves are unique and never drown,
They melt like snow as they touch ground.
In moving swiftly toward that final shore,
The wave vanishes in sand and is no more.