What I Can Hear (Poem)

As a child I lived by the sea.

I swam in its waters and played on its shores.

I watched the birds write poetry in the skies,

Read stories left by crabs scuttling in the sand,

And was lulled by mingled songs of sun, waves, and wind.

When I drifted to sleep with salt lingering on my lips,

I was visited by sea serpents, the wisest denizens of the depths.

Their sibilant sagacity wove through my dreams,

Finally coming to root in my bones.

Now in my waning, I begin to understand.

Ancient laughter echoes through the years,

While the very particles of existence appear and disappear,

All joined in a dance.