The Cave

 

As a child I would explore the magic there

a hidden world of washed up treasures

string, wood, perhaps an old boot

soft edged sea glass nestled in salted pebbles

and I could lose myself for hours amid

those simple things, incapable of harm

 

And all the while a secret beckoned with the light

creeping in and calling me from the horizon

to ensure I would return and meet you there one day

clutching love notes scrawled on a brown paper bag

my windswept heart aching in silent anticipation

of a cloudburst of sighs passed between lovers lips

 

Hidden by the crag edges of the cave

we held steady against the tide, rising fast

’til we let it take us under, and I thought

‘we could go on forever like this’

our bliss suspended in the dark

I felt magic once more, tingling under my skin

 

Soon after, you were gone, and I couldn’t explain

why the ripples of your touch now trembled at my side

and the black went on forever, my horizon fading

yet still I would come, waiting in the echoes

and once, I thought I saw you there

sunlight dancing shadows at your back

 

But our tale was cast adrift, and clarity came to call

in the end, as fate’s palm passed you a pittance

and gifted me with riches.  And only then could I see

the light, as our son wandered in the low tide

searching for washed up treasures where once

we’d buried a future in an old memory box