Footsteps in the sand

Footsteps in the Sand, Hana, Maui, Hawaii, February 2004, Pentax Optio 555, Exposure 1/500 sec @ f7.0, ISO 64, no flash © Steven Crisp

Do you remember walking barefoot on the beach?
Listening to the surf, soothing you with its voice
Did you feel its warm, moist sand squeeze
Between your toes and gently caress your soles?

Soon they are gone, wiped clean by the waves
Do you mourn for them, and wish they would remain?
Let go of this, and all you are attached to
It is no secret, no surprise; this is the flow of life itself

From the snow that falls on an isolated cave
Hidden high in the mountains where a recluse
Meditates through a cold and desolate winter
Until spring returns and the ice begins to drip, drip, drip

So the brook can babble and the stream can shout
And the river calls to fields of fragrant flowers
Swelling ponds and lakes, and feeding waterfalls
While bringing life to creatures great and small

It continues its journey -- its destiny,
Relentlessly, dispassionately, to the sea, to the sea
Where once again it will erase your footsteps
And one day, it will cleanse your soul