The Shell

I wrote poetry at one point in my life.

I threw a pebble

into the ocean today

amidst the surf and salty spray.

A part of me flew with the stone

splashing into wet; crashing sounds,

I tumble down.

I am not so heavy

here beneath the sea.

So easy, not depth nor tides

will hold me.

But here I land upon a shell

and my gentle weight

flips us pell-mell.

I am a shell,

face down, cast away…

my beauty hidden until today.

Somehow my world

got plum upside down

and I feel the sun

is sparkling around.

As I lazily drift towards the shore

I have a sense there’s so much more.

Little pink toes

have come to greet me,

thrust up towards the sky

I shine so brightly.

Back on the shore

I watched people fill their buckets.

And I looked for a pebble to cast

but glittering bright

something had caught my glance.

It was opalescent in the sand,

half a shell, full of pearly sunlight.

Since beauty wasn’t meant to be held in hand

I tossed it back to the sea.

My feet left the sand

the shell and I were free

no longer kept to land.

And just as I believed

I could fly or I could stand

as high as I wanted to dream.