sandcastles

I.

we were torn apart

(she and i were torn apart)

a detachment

a specter of myself

and i was afraid

to be her

afraid that she would

shatter on contact or

pull me into her current

sweep me away

in her riptide

although she had no body she was drowning

II.

inexplicably entwined

we once upon a time

made peace

reacquainted we spent the day

building sandcastles at the shoreline

the safest place to be

where the incoming tide

erased mistakes with ease

what is constant in this inconstancy

the roar of our great mother

the ocean

drowned out curses

and our pleas

to each other

to be right

to be loved

to belong

III.

the tides will rise and fall

the moon eventually

switches place in the sky

with the morning sun

(who is not an equal partner

by any means

but the source

of sustenance

for us all)

everyone knows he would be nothing without her

IV

arms of seaweed wave at me in the surf

and I reach for the gift

taking time to braid each strand

so at least to the casual observer

there seems to be some order

in the beauty