Jellyfish swim at the whim of the ocean tides
They arrive on the beach
Leaving people streaming out of the water
Cursing jellyfish
Who (you’ll recall) arrive at the whim of the ocean
And die parched deaths
High and dry
Away from the tide
That delivered them.
Thoughts arise unbidden
Create emotions
that often need to be hidden
An event comes along
New thoughts
Fresh emotions
Some are frightening
Sad and deep
These are the ones we need to keep
carefully arranged behind a smile
Futile
Is the word that springs to mind
A child pokes a dying jellyfish with a stick
Families pack up and leave the beach
trailing plastic and the smell of sunscreen behind them
I turn a page in my book
And pity the jellyfish
Pity the child
Pity myself
For pitying
Futile
Is the word that springs to mind
A tide of thoughts
A tide of emotion
Why do we cling to things
That are merely in motion
As natural as the cycle of the moon
Is that of the plight
Of a human being beneath a mood
And a jellyfish
on the tide
Photo: beach in the afternoon.
