Builders – once freely constructing their dreams upon
her shifting sands – have returned to the daily routine of their work and their
classrooms…
Friends and lovers have gone their separate ways to
pursue individual realities after making empty promises to meet again next year…
The gulls – so active during the seemingly short season
– have moved on in search of a more bountiful harvest.
Leaving only the Keeper of the Harbor – the Guardian of
the Shore – to look after his Sea as he tends his lighthouse…
The Keeper stands facing the wind – cold and alone –
seeing the sea and the beach in a different light than those who feel only her
warmth and experience but the happy sounds of crowds while failing to recognize
the beauty portrayed in isolation…
He sees past her surface into the depths of her soul –
feeling and experiencing her power as she pounds relentlessly upon the empty shores
of the now deserted beach…
He braces for an incoming autumn storm – feeling the
biting cold of the sea’s loneliness lashing out to escape the confines of her
reality upon the winds of change…
He becomes entwined in nature’s struggle to make sense
of the shortening days and protracted nights – seeking meaning and life within
the expanse of the sea’s depths and turbulence…
He sees the danger spread across her face as she
awakens from the comforting calm provided by night’s shroud of darkness,
beginning a new day of restless searching that keeps ships in safe harbors…
The Keeper treads gently upon the shores as if in a sacred
temple abandoned long ago by a distracted and disinterested world…
He feels the strength of the Sea as he walks beside
her – sensing her cry out for one who might understand, her tears driven
towards his unprotected face upon the wings of the wind…
He struggles to face the rising storm – pounded
relentlessly by the Sea as he tastes her salty loneliness and leans towards her
into the wind…
He falls to his knees – absorbing her pain while
sharing her suffering as he immerses himself within her sorrow – joining the
Sea in her confusion as he protects his head from the torrential rains…
Then slowly rises to share the moment when she spills
from her confinement – lifted up by the relentless winds of a storm –
experiencing freedom from the constraints normally imposed upon her by the
shore before returning to her reality as the winds recede…
The Beach is quiet once more – the storm having passed
leaving the Keeper at rest with his Sea…
New life appears upon the shore as the tides fall –
life that could never survive the crowds of summer but thrives during the lonely
and undisturbed days of seasonal isolation…
The Keeper returns to his lighthouse – seeking the solitude
it provides him as he directs others through lurking danger hidden by his Sea…
He celebrates the possibility of new beginnings brought
about through the passing of seasons rather than dwelling upon the finality of stormy ends – upon what could yet be realized rather than what has already proven
itself to be…
Standing alone – The Keeper of the Harbor and Guardian
of the Shore – finds peace and comfort in the beauty a desolate shore provides while
awaiting the return of those finding pleasure upon the summer sands. He finds hope in each season life provides
rather than living life (and finding comfort in) but one preferred season.