The Swelling Tide

The well of solitude overflows

with a swelling tide of sorrow

waves carry the mind

beyond itself into a world

parched for rain thirsting

for wholeness praying for

the final chance to become

what it was meant to be

how can the weary traveler

find the cache of character

that rivals even gold

how can the sea batter

battlements of iron immune

to rust and the corrosive

touch of poets seeking solace

from dry stretches of beach

they unfold before the rising sun

how many colors baptize the day

how many choruses reverberate

in clouds how many

How many answers skirt our feet

how many skitter on the wind

we must ride the swelling wave

past the undertow of death on to

the waiting shore rife with unwary

travelers who will drown

in the shallows of their hedonism

and materialism which suck the marrow

from their bones leaving no defense

against alien designs which pile up

like logs in a dusky campfire

smoke signals presence signals

precious life that is but a wisp

on the breeze cooling the brow

of the road warrior come here

to find his destiny writ large

in the lush calligraphy of the island

rain forests pyramidal mountains

looming over crinkled hillsides

meant to stand forever until the soil

gives way in an avalanche of death

who can escape it even in paradise

I will stay alone within these walls

until the muse departs having wrought

her havoc on my mind having bought

me time to try one variation after another

metaphors gleaming diction

singing the anthem of the ages

let us join in the refrain

let us join the voices of the elders

who hold our journeys in abeyance

until we survive the rite of passage

diving deep into the self pulling up

pearls not yet smoothed but priceless

all the same the princess will wear them

under the haloed moon with minions

on the beach checking their phones

proud of their photographs sketching

an experience never to be forgotten

as long as screens exist I will dip

into the well of solitude until I can

forget them seeing only pearls

moons mountains waves hills green

with promise and the swelling tides

of the solitary heart