Onto the beach path and into the dunes

At the hilltop crest, salt air strikes my chest 

My journey still fresh, with no time for rest 

Well under way now, we must all leave the nest

Stepping by sight just might seem right 

I most likely won’t stumble, fall over or bumble 

But that will bring me only to where I can see 

Not to where I ultimately hope to be

Footprints come and footprints go 

Pushed down by weight, blown away by fate 

We walk together one by one, two by two 

I am because you are, I exist because of you

The sun breaks above the distant horizon 

Warming the mood but the moment is frozen 

Forever in time, this scene is mine only 

Lonely but not alone, in frame with humanity

Out now on the wide beach, the sand cool and soft 

My senses are sharpened, yet my mind becomes lost 

Between beginning and end, in this mortal middle place 

Do I have enough pace, do I have enough grace

Seagulls crying laughter, their offspring following after 

Flittering then fluttering, calls rising then stuttering 

Nature’s philharmonic sounds and melodies 

Rhythms and harmonies from fellow creature families

The waves crash with ease, carrying a damp summer breeze 

All of it given over without so much as a please 

Surrounded by all this generosity 

I don’t exhibit enough curiosity

About why I get to see this place with my face 

So full of beauty, none of it earned from my duty 

I’ve been too important, too busy, too gruff 

This presence is a present I don’t unwrap enough

Drawn closer to the water’s edge by my gait 

In no hurry on this journey but also can’t wait 

To get where I’m going, as if I knew where that was 

To make sense of my sojourn, give my life a because

Because without one we aren’t one, separate and apart 

We must not breed hate but love from the heart 

Compassion and gratitude not just mere platitude 

Love and relationship the one incarnate attitude

The sun overhead now, like birds the times fly 

One earth step closer to the ultimate by and by 

My body it fades, showing wrinkles and tatter 

But this walk that I’m on, my only true matter

It’s what I do now, between dune and shoreline 

That brings this day honor, your honor not mine 

Like children filled with wonder, their spirit more alive 

How you get where you’re going is where you’ll arrive