Dream Beach
written by: Ian Fletcher
He strolled along the beach
he had frequented as a child
on summer holidays long ago.
All the time that had passed
seemed a meaningless stream
as he deemed his life in sum
to have no more significance
than the meanest grain of sand
blown across that barren strand.
His memories were fading
as those hazy days receded
into the dark abyss of time
day by day, year on year,
his aging mind now jaded.
Senses too were dimmed
for the sights and sounds
would never be the same
as in those days of yore
when on that very shore
he stood so overwhelmed
by the sea’s immensity
that it was a natural metaphor
of life’s endless possibilities
stretching forever on before.
Hearing the mesmerizing
cadence of the breakers
rising and then falling
in the fast withdrawing tide
he felt he was dissolving
with the spume and foam
into a dream of the past.
Yes, the time was nigh
seemed the message
of the sighing waves
when he must return
to that same dust
from whence he came.
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