Dancing Midst Coral Caves
Dancing Midst Coral Caves is a metaphor, as many poems are. It is, at its core, about a relationship between two people of different backgrounds who come together in a splash of passion. After a year or so the passion fades and they both start seeing faults in the other. The image of a perfect partner shatters. Many new relationships cannot make it through this tumultuous time. But as the storm dies, if they can stay strong there will be new bonds formed. Bonds of love that are much, much more difficult to break. This is the time when true strength and companionship grows, when both parties of a relationship recognize that the other person has their own strength and depth of character. I am lucky enough to have made it through one of these storms with someone special. And while our relationship is still very new in the scheme of life, we have grown very strong together. I wrote Dancing Midst Coral Caves shortly after our first major storm. I post it now for two reasons:
1. I have only just restarted posting on MattWasHere
2. Rachel and I just spent a week road tripping down the California coast and were lucky enough to pass through the Big Sur region south of Monterey. This rugged stretch of coastline reminded me about my story/poem of the land and the sea.
Without any further ado I give you Dancing Midst Coral Caves.
This is a story of the sea
Falling in love, patiently
This is a song about the land
Stubborn Rock, malleable sand
They dance the dance of eternity
Mutual respect and prosperity
The ocean changes, calm to storm
The rock stays steady, every morn
The earth just sees a mile’s glimpse
And the sea just sights the stony cliffs
And though no force, can compete
With the coast, where they meet
The mountain peak, is not understood
Nor the life, in jungle and wood
The sea knows naught of meadow and spring
Nor of land’s beasts, nor bird on wing
And the cliff face does not comprehend
The dark depths of its mighty friend
The creatures strange, housed in her water
No knowledge of whale or otter
Both these forces do not understand
That the differences of ocean and land
Are not differences but similarities
That the coral can stand for the trees
And the pressures in the trenches deep
Are same as thin air on mountain’s peak
Though to each other, they seem strange
They know their love cannot be changed
For eternity, their dance is true
Tale old as time, told for two
A storm pauses song, one fateful day
Waves rock the coast, take sand away
Landslide threatens ocean’s path
The forces dance, beneath storm’s wrath
Storm whispers in ocean’s ear
The sea agrees with single tear
This containment simply cannot stand
The ocean must drown the land
Waves chip away at solid rock
Earth cries out in pain and shock
And in its rage the core demands
That from the sea, should rise new lands
To take back ground, that broke away
In deep waters, land will prey
With volcanoes rage, earth must rise
A new mountain peak to touch the skies
The sea cries out as lava scathes
Seeks retribution with storming waves
The earth rises with a quake
Following suit, a tsunami wakes
Forces churn the dance askew
Aimed at one but maiming two
And in this rage, no end seems near
The world looks on and sheds a tear
For land and sea were meant to be
And all are shook by this tragedy
But storm subsides, the land, it bleeds
Volcano stops bruising the seas
Both with scars it starts to seem
That dance is now a broken thing
They tend their wounds and start to feel
That eventually their hurts will heal
But the loneliness, neither can abide
They long for each other by their side
Earth feels its heart call longingly
For its dearest of friends, the sea
And the ocean seeks to find a way
To take its love to the bay
Where calm waters meet soft sand
And sea can cuddle with the land
A truce is called and they realize
That though each seeks a different prize
The earth now knows the sea must breathe
The waters know now, land will never leave
They must seek to understand
What makes the sea, and the land
New island stands with slopes of green
Saw depths in water, previously unseen
And sea turns eyes towards the peak
Now understands that land’s not weak
Knowledge between them starts to grow
Land breeds coral, ocean sees snow
They fall in love even more
Those shifting currents, that stony shore
The song rises, the love remains
The dance moves on, midst coral caves
Even now storm can gray the skies
But the sun will always rise
For eternity, their dance will be true
Tale old as time, told for two
Simply beautiful! My favorite.
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