the salty water washes away my past and future

            I contemplate the thunderous ocean waves as they wash onto the beach, calmly receding until another crashes onto shore.  Sea foam, splashing and bubbling, blows off wave crests by the constant breeze.  Pelicans fly low, searching for their next fish meal, gently skimming their wingtips against forming waves.  Sandpipers run on their quick stick legs with the ebb and flow of the ocean, daring to wet their beaks.  

            Humbled by the shear magnitude and energy of the ocean and waves, I recite lovingkindness, “May I be strong.”  I realize that I am directing this request to the water, hoping that I may be graced with just an ounce of its strength.  I enter the water, cool at first touch, becoming a warm embrace as I float among the waves.  My body feels light and the salty water washes away my past and future as I listen to the underwater shush and watch the white feather clouds cross the blue sky.

            As the sun descends behind stilted beach houses, the sky turns grey-purple-pink-blue above silver water.   The moon rises over the horizon—big, full, and flat against the pastel sky.  The sun bows beneath the horizon, and the moon rises higher accepting its reign over the night.  It brightens as if glowing from within, casting a perfect path of light on the ocean’s surface, ending at my feet resting in the hard damp sand.  The path beckons me to come—to walk to the edge of the world with the moon as my guide.

            I walk along the beach and the moon glows mysteriously in the ever-darkening sky, its path never wavering from my side.  I ponder my ability to walk along the gleaming trail, treading lightly on the water’s surface, beneath a moon full of secrets.  I walk slowly, feeling heel-arch-toe press into the cold sand, listening to the whispering waves, feeling the moon’s celestial light and recite, “May I be happy.  May I be healthy.  May I be filled with ease.  May I be filled with peace.  May I be strong.  May I be safe.”