TO BEGIN AGAIN


The sun high in the sky
The waves beat the beach
The tide is coming in
I see the fog a half mile away

The wind is blowing
The sand in my eyes
I have been here All my life
Which seems only this morning

Many people are here
All shades of red and brown
It�s an August day
The smell of salt is strong

I�m still wet from the ocean
Evaporating with the droplets
The rocks beg me to play
I walk and run toward them

I know a cave there
Where the waves of storms
Have carved deep
Over many years

I climb sharp piled rocks
My feet still bare
Burning from the hot sand
A mist from the waves hitting the rocks

A relief of coolness
I pause a moment
Then dry again
I jump to the wet sand

There isn�t much time
The ocean will be here soon
I enter the cave
Into the darkness

A part of me says leave
But I must enter
Light fades behind me
The voices all gone

I am alone
For the first time today
I feel peace in my heart
I sit looking to where I had come

I notice the water coming
Into the cave
At first slowly creeping
Then in thunderous waves

I am trapped
Maybe I can swim out
But the current is too strong
I step back then another step

The water reaches my feet
The cave ceiling closes in
I duck down low
Then begin to crawl

The pulsating water
Ever closer
Ever deeper
The rocks scrape my back

Then a light
The sun coming down
Though an opening
Escape

On my belly now
The ocean washing over me
I struggle for air
The sand washing from under me

I look up
And reach for the jagged rock
I pull myself forward
I can only think of getting higher

Blood as my hands are cut
Then the stinging of salt water
In open wounds
But I climb

The sun begins to dry my face
The opening is small
I am scraped all over
My body and legs

The ocean still tortures me
I know I must survive
Then the top
I slide out as the water sprays out

I am safe
I look down the beach
No one has noticed
But I was born today


Michael V Hechtman