I walked the beach today
My footfall over a three inch blanket of shimmering seaweed, slow and sweet, stretching down the beach in shades of green and brown and red
Waves broke, gently calling me back in—but no time today for a watery retreat
Dark birds, backlit by the low hung autumn sun, rode the waves, bobbing then diving under for an afternoon snack
One seagull soared above, easy and free
I travelled the Crystal Springs beach, my brown eyes seeking bits of shell—moon snail—my mind catching on where to dive in here tomorrow
First one, then another, and ten minutes more and my sweater was filled to overflowing with every imaginable fragment of moon snail shell—they were here all the time
I stopped too, to crouch down, my boots brushing the waves, lowered my free hand to scoop water onto my cheeks, touch what I love, say hello, a prayer of sorts for peace within and peace without
What better way to pass a free moment then next to my sister of salt and sand?
She is always ready to take me in, hold me, lighten my burden and listen to my heart beat while her own steady drum beats on and on into the infinite
To walk beside this sister, like my own of flesh and bone, is to live honest and free.
Beside me, a sister of the same waters, together we travelled these waters turning styrofoam riddled with tube worms into sailing ships
Years ago we cast about, lost our sails, pitched overboard and pulled each other back over the splintered rails dripping and frozen, wrapping the other in blankets of pussywillows and tulip tree leaves—
Only now we begin to understand that we save ourselves by saving each other.
Mary Swims 
✨🌹💦🌙💦🌹✨