Sea Power

Building sand castles
outrunning the tide
squirming and readjusting the grit
in the bottom of their suits
anxious to wash themselves free of the sea.

Pubescents strutting their bikini bodies
it is the beach
with its promise of suntans
fire pits under the stars
the ocean a mere backdrop.

Little crabs scramble
as I read Lost Horizon
falling in love with the idea
of a life devoid of struggle
a gentle wave.

Today it is not the sandy beach that lures me
all the way to the edge of the California coast
where endlessness begins.

Today the sea itself summons.

I watch surfers
who are at one with the sea
each one paddling out
waiting for the crest to form
their Tao/Zen acquiescing
to this dominance,
my wanting to succumb
to that prodigious power turning in upon itself.