Waiting For You ©

At Spring tide and early mornings
I stood at the edge of the world.
I looked for you until my eyes hurt.
Each day the beach emptied more of you
and you sank with my feet into the wet sand.
I listened for your whispers in the wind
and knew this would be my last visit.

A dipper darted back and forth,
fragile like your moods
flitting in and out of reality.
Near the water's edge a tern
zigzagged across pebbled carpets
picking crumbs from our last rendezvous.
Along the shore bubbled seaweed
glistened in the setting sun,
and I remembered your final tears.
The waves hissed and swished
keeping time with my broken heart.

I swallowed the whole memory,
and woke from my light trance.
Looking back along the beach
one set of footprints found me
searching too late to find you.
As I watched the Spring tide
rush in for the last time,
I knew you had found fresh water.