The Same Sea

The Same Sea

We’ve all done it,
inscribed our names in the sand,
right there, on the edge of the sea.
And watched, as waves rolled in,
wiping our pages, washing
our marks into the depths.

That’s when we sense
those vast oceans, full of words,
too many for our mouths to form.
The seas have their own vocabulary,
a mix of tongues, swirls of meaning,
all of us, blended together.

Then we turn back,
back to the rise and fall
we understand, immerse ourselves
in our own small streams.
Yet, far down, we still hear it,
the tide breaking, those shared voices…                                                                               

…over and over.


Derek Ross.