She crawled from the waves on a moonlit night, abandoning her world of wet

How many years she’d spent watching others live their lives from beneath the surface

Close yet aloof, necessarily separate

A young couple passing by holding hands, their life together just begun, giggles and sighs, long drawn out kisses, dreams spilling from their lips

She watched impassive as a middle-aged man walked past on his phone, shoes held twixt his fingers, halting protests, gesturing finally as his marriage fell apart over the line

Children ran and spun, digging out whole new worlds held back only by imagination and their mother’s beckoning calls

Joggers and junkies, lovers and families, beginnings and ends, she bore witness to them all, interested yet detached

Until one evening, a man arrived tired and worn down, he was finished she saw, he loosened his tie and folded it neatly to rest upon his leather shoes

When he stepped down into the cold with her, she held out her arms wide and listened intently as he confessed his woes, his sins and why this all made sense, while she cradled him softly

She caressed his hair calmly and kissed him tenderly, pulling his last breath kindly and peacefully from his lips

But his story stuck with her, teased the back of her mind until the day arrived when she decided to find the answers he had desired, for him

So she wrapped her hair about herself, lifted her skirts and stepped forth, remnants of her salty home streaming from her body, and then she walked

She walked the city streets and listened

She walked the country roads and heard

She walked the halls and the boulevards and the wheat fields and universities and the back alleys and she observed

And compassion welled up within her, broke free within her chest

Everything was too dry, so damn dry

Even so, her tears more than made up for the parched air, for once they started she felt sure they’d never end

They poured from her red-rimmed eyes in torrents and rushes, they flooded her senses, ebbing, flowing, drenching her pale flesh

The depravity, the senselessness, the heartaches, the betrayals, the loss, the loneliness, she felt she could not last another minute

In desperation she lifted her skirts and ran with all haste as swift as her bare feet could carry her back, back, back to where she began

Back to the sea which always made sense, which always continues on no matter what happens in the world above, which will hold and care for you from the time you hatch from your egg to the day you returned to jelly

And as she came upon the very same stretch of beach where the young man had wept in her arms all those months ago before finally releasing his gift of life

She came upon another sitting there in the sand, he had some silver in his dark hair with a kind face and a gentle smile gracing his lips

He sat there, arms draped across his bent knees just staring out over the waves, gazing quietly and at rest

His spirit was calm and so she knelt in front of him, took his palms within her own and implored him, how, why, why, why?

Instead of being repulsed or pulling away, the man gently took her face in his hands and stroked her tears with his thumbs, wisdom poured from his soul and he spoke,

For Love, my dear, always only for Love

Then he kissed her deeply there, with every ounce of passion she’d always only witnessed but never had experienced

And he stood and walked away, hands deep in his pockets, continually observing the world around him and she, for her part, touched her lips briefly, and while they continued to burn, she felt just this once, perhaps, that it wasn’t such a bad thing after all and so she turned and walked back beneath the waves from which she came

tara caribou | ©️2018

53 thoughts on “Oceana

  1. Sea creatures grew feet..
    Land animals grew wings.
    Abandon that world of wet.
    Once she drys off and the chill does subside,
    There will be no reason to hide.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. So very touching. Beautiful.
        But I was kinda hoping she’d leave that wet. Shed familiarity for a new overture. If she could tame crashing waves, she could endure anything.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Now THAT would be a beautiful future. I was hoping the glimmer of Love the man at the end showed her would be enough and she would overcome familiarity and safety as well.


      2. Again a beautiful piece… But I don’t understand. Why didn’t she follow the guy at the end?
        Why did he walk away? What was so freaking important about the wet !!
        I need to lightly edit that last paragraph Tara. She gave up to easily. She closed the door too early. No no no.
        My version within 24 hours.
        Sorry if this is inappropriate.
        I must.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Tara… This literally made me cry… in a beautiful way, though. This is just too beautiful and touching. Such a powerful message about the struggles of life and love. This post right here is going to linger with me all day.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I’ve enjoyed reading this one several times now, and each time, I find something new that I missed before. I think you have a true gift for capturing something to make it both haunting and yet beautiful at the same time.

    Liked by 2 people

  4. You are able to take me to . . . . . . The picture is what it is and remains until we visit again. You need to speak this one for the added allure. So direct yet questioning at the same time.
    Thank you,

    Liked by 1 person

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