~ Poem ~ Against the Backdrop (For Dad)

My father died Nov. 11, 1988, while my mother was still pregnant with me. I posted a picture of the ocean that said "I have an angel watching over me and his name is Daddy" yesterday after my fiancé found it and shared it with me on Facebook.

Just today, my mother told me that Oct. 21 was his birthday. Not a moment after that, LeeAnn Womack's song "I Hope You Dance" started randomly playing on my computer. This is the poem inspired by all this.

Time

is a wheel in motion

like the sea;

crashing the shores

in a storm;

restless. 

Don't take breathing for granted.

Some learn it the hard way.

Some never learn it at all.

Some dance by the ocean

under light of every dusk,

just a silhouette…

against something greater

than any one being.

Feeling small against

the sea and the sky and this life.

Something in the way

you're always behind me

no matter where I roam;

something in the way

you always take my hand

and lead me home…

protected.

Life

is a continuous string of breaths

like the wind

collecting autumn leaves

and blowing them away;

scattered. 

Don't ever believe you don't matter.

Some fall just to crawl away.

Some flee at break of day.

Some simply stand in one moment;

arms stretched open wide

to the sea, to the sea

and then there's me… 

lost at best but finding a way.

Said I'd walk a hundred miles to get to you

and I'm driving a thousand to get home.

When ten doors slam shut

another has to open somewhere.

When faith is denounced

you're selling out on yourself.

(not just religion, but hope

and the belief there really is

something more)

Choice

is a conscious thought, a breath;

content,

like whispers of the ocean on rocks

at world's end

sometimes colliding… 

with someone who wants to leave you

bitter, cold-hearted, destroyed.

Don't be.

Step into morning's first light

sun-drenched, astounded.

I have been beaten down and tortured

yet standing beside the ocean,

this vast stretch of power and elegance

it doesn't even matter

for after tragedy you'll only find the gypsy 

dancing.

It's the grace of yourself;

expression

of every wondrous feature one beholds.

You're there if ever I feel small

against the backdrop.

Like the sea.

­

 

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Sunshine Coast sunset, 2011

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