Where the world and I meet

By Anna Roche Clark

As I crest the dune it beckons—
the beach laid out in formal greet.

Deep and unending; the shoreline,
is where the world and I meet.

I witness the glistening sun’s rise,
announcing all that is possible today.

A place that is sacred for combers,
our escape, our precious getaway.

Hours can pass without notice, 
content just to scan shoreline wracks.

The world’s urgencies drift away,
as mind and body completely relax.

A tune repeats as I gingerly step,
over sandy and rocky part.

While rhythms of the waves synchronize,
the metronome of my grateful heart.

The thrill of finding some treasures,
be they sea glass, pebble or shell.

Each piece has a different journey,
and the story I wish it could tell. 

The ocean’s a bountiful patron,
on each wave, every tide, and each day.

Provided we protect and don’t choke her,
with our trash that will never decay.

Breezy sun-warmed skin tingles,
overhead squawking seagulls you hear.

The sea is as sweet and as salty,
as the happiest happiness tear.

Where sea ends and sky begins,
their boundaries one cannot tell.

Spirits lift from nearby whiffs,
of tropical sun lotion smell.

But not only in sunny and clear skies,
I return to the shore for the storm.

A surrender to magnificent power, 
when clouds and cascading waves form.

Leaning into the gathering furry,
I dare stand too close to the sea.

A reminder of just how trivial,
me and my “little problems” can be. 

When I’m here I am happily hopeful, 
expansive, joyful and free.

There is no place I’m more alive,
and no place I feel more like me.

Now I escort the sunset over,
the horizon’s glowing sea foam.

At the beach is where I’m made whole,
it is where I am finally home. 

This article appeared in the Beachcombing Magazine July/August 2022 issue.