June 3: The Shore

The tide comes in
Bringing with it all the pieces
Disposed by the seas use
Left to breakdown
Covered over
By the sand

Footprints left on those sands
Marking exploration or vacation
Coming to use
Or visiting before a breakdown
To cover over
Life with a sun tan

The waves sing out
In a constant whoosh of exaltation
The song consistent
From beginning to the final culmination

The breeze through the dunes
The grass shifts sideways
A movement of contemplation
The shore symphony


In New Jersey there is not a beach, there is a shore. Sure I know it's semantics but in New Jersey you go down to the shore. Even if you are traveling north to get there. The New Jersey shore is a well traveled and visited place during the summer. People from the surrounding area come to take in the ocean and the world of beach towns. For all of the glamour of vacationing and going to beaches, there is a part of us that is getting away from something. We handle that something by distracting ourselves with a vacation. I'm sure we can all think about vacations that we have taken in the past and all of the stuff that we did during them. There's a time to rest but where is true rest? Walking along the shore line there are little bits of shell and algae and other stuff that is just the used stuff of the ocean. We come to the shore as used stuff. Where the things of the ocean are covered over by sand and broken down, we cover ourselves with a tan, as if that is a successful sign of relaxation.

The constant song of the ocean rings out. The song began at one point and will one day be a part of the eternal culmination. We miss that on our vacations. We miss the symphony that has been created and is before us. The breeze that runs through the grass of the dune is like a dance to the oceans symphony. The grass gets it but we miss it. What will it take for us to realize what is important and how true rest can be obtained? May the shore continue to sing.