peace for now
The sea rolls in slowly, lazily. The sky is cloudy but calm. I’m walking on the sand next to the ocean. I’m alone. Behind me the rocky hills stick up into the clouds connecting the earth and the sky. The sand gives way under my feet, absorbing the harshness of my feet striking the ground. Out farther on the ocean, way past the cliffs rising above the water, past where the few fishing ships sit idly, past the point where I can still disinguish waves, the sky blends with the water. They are one. From here, the water looks solid that far out. The clouds a few miles out, break for just a moment and I see the sun striking the sea like a flashlight pointed at a mirror.
Here on the beach the sand stretches ahead of me. Some seaweeds have washed ashore and hermit crabs scramble away for cover as I approach. The sand dunes rise and fall as though the sand is trying to imitate the waves on the sea.
I stop, listen and close my eyes. The way someone else must have a thousand years ago right here. I hear what he heard. The breeze flows around me and through my clothes, making me feel as though I had nothing on. He felt the emotions, the troubles, the questions, the good things, the faces and everything come to a stop. The wind and the waves, the sand and the water pushed away what it was that he had come to ask. It’s peaceful here. I forget the problem that drove me here. It blows out to sea.
I close my eyes and listen again. Hearing the answer…and the distant sounds of traffic back on the road.
