TURTLES IN THE SAND (Explored)

“This my dear, is the

greatest challenge

of being alive :

 

To witness

the injustice

of this world,

 

and not

allow it

to consume

our light.” - CREDIT : @oxherdboy (Instagram)

 

Soundtrack : www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEoPVV__7jk

WALK BESIDE ME – Celtic Woman

 

It's difficult for most people to understand

what it is to be a stranger in someone elses land

where English is your second language

and you're tongue-tied trying to say the sounds

The bay in which I find myself

is made up of half stones half sand

I venture to cross an invisible border

nothing that I do is planned

A little girl who seems familiar

takes me by my outstretched hand

and smilingly she leads me

further up upon the silken sand

Above the tide line are two turtles

heading towards the sandy dunes

the wind is whispering old love songs

and some childhood nursery tunes

the tide line is a tangled mess

of shells and stones cast out like runes

I ask the child who are the turtles

carved out so carefully with spoons

she says the big one is her mama

and the smaller one is her

I ask where then is the other turtle

the one that represents her father

she points across the stretching sand

where the tide recedes so far and wide

to touch another distant land

that borders another and another beside

I squint my eyes and try to see

but like a mirage in front of me

the landscaped hills appear to be

just smoke stretched out horizontally

He had to stay behind to fight

to keep our homeland free she said

I marvelled at her understanding

her matter-of-fact account sans dread

but her eyes were sparkling with unshed tears

her comprehension beyond her years

but without the words to express her fears

I heard her tangibly and felt so clear

the turtles telling her story

 

- AP - Copyright © remains with and is the intellectual property of the author

 

Copyright © protected image please do not reproduce without permission

Done