The gift of the sea

The gift of a walk by the sea

Is that it reminds us how small we are,

And how inexorable the tides;

How something that washes up at our feet

Can be swept away an instant later,

Never to return; the relative impermanence 

Of thoughts, experience, and feelings

That shimmer briefly, like light upon the waves...

Be patient, dear ones, it seems to say —

This, too, shall pass. 

Breathe in, breathe out, and breathe again, 

And let the salt air heal your aching heart.