Do Not Despair
The trace of pearl that remains
in the bulk of you will fail, in the curl
it will shatter, the curl can drown you,
or you will lose your footprints
in the moist sand of nostalgia.
Your tears have made an ocean
where pirates have stolen everything
from you, and steal it now.
So walk.
There is only salty water behind you;
love may not come from what you love;
you cannot always choose
the door that opens your life.
— Rick Maxson
“Do Not Despair” used by permission of Rick Maxson. Photo by Ruth Troughton, Creative Commons, via Unsplash.
There is only salty water behind you;
love may not come from what you love;
you cannot always choose
the door that opens your life.
Love this one!! I just read a stunning poem of the sea on Rattle Everything this morning ... now this one. I'm getting my fill of the sea. "The trace of pearl that remains/in the bulk of you will fail," and the "moist sand of nostalgia." The magic words. I'm already feeling cooler in all this heat.