I took a walk along the shore
To clear my mind about the day,
I saw a man I'd seen before
As I approached he slipped away...
The salty sea-breeze caressed my skin and ruffled my hair. My bare feet sank deep into the cool white sand and the gentle waves splashed around my ankles. The evening air was warm as the sun slowly drifted further towards the horizon; the view from where I stood was beautiful, but I was too deeply lost in my thoughts to notice. I had walked the shore every evening for years, taking the same route through the bowing palms and around the curving bays. The sound of the waves would drown out all else, leaving me to wander, accompanied only by my memories. I sometimes thought I caught a glimpse of him, slipping through the trees that lined the beach, but when I turned my head there was no sign, every time a pang of disappointment would rip through me and every time I would shake it off and curse my eyes for the cruel tricks they insisted on playing.
I knew his face from years ago,
His smile stays with me ever more
His eyes, they guide me through the haze
And give me shelter from the storm...
The sky was steadily darkening. As I stared up into the royal-blue abyss, his face would swim before my eyes, as clear as the day we met. I remembered his eyes. I would always remember his eyes, his warm, dark eyes. They were the colour of chocolate, lined with kohl, and I blinked, and his face was gone- but his eyes never left me. They were branded deeply into the black behind my own eyelids- invading my thoughts in the day and my dreams at night.
As I walk I can feel him,
Always watching over me...
His voice surrounds me,
My Spirit of the Sea...
I sank to my knees in the sand, the waves sing me his songs, the wind whispers his name. A rough hand touches on my shoulder, I reached up to take it and felt only air. I could feel his smile warming my broken heart, his fingers brushing away my tears. He calls, his voice floats upon the breeze, sending his love from some far-off place. I got to my feet, wading through the shallow water, soaking my shirt and trousers. I immersed my hands in the cool ocean, wondering if he sailed over the same sea, many miles away. I remembered the day he left, the tears we shed, the words I screamed, how it felt like the end of eternity.
And it was almost like he knew
He wouldn't see me anymore
He looked so deeply in my eyes, and said
"Wait for me along the shore..."
I took a breath of air and lowered my head into the cool water, exhaling gently as bubbles broke the surface. My eyes drifted shut and the darkness closed in. I watched a little boy, his dark hair tangled and his clothes tatty, as he gripped a wooden sword, lunging at the air with precision and an equally scruffy little girl, mirroring his every movement, her face screwed up in concentration. I watched a teenage boy stood knee-deep in sea-water, a red bandana tied round his forehead, laughing as he splashed water over a girl of his age who was doubled over in hysterical giggles. I watched two young adults, their finger's interlaced, running swiftly through the streets of Tortuga- stopping to kiss quickly in a dark alley-way before sprinting off along the docks to escape a hoard of angry shopkeepers. I watched a pirate, stood at the helm of his ship, the red bandana now faded and stained, his tanned cheeks stained with kohl and tears- a woman stood on the docks, sobbing shamelessly... and suddenly, I couldn't bear to watch any more. I pulled my head from the water, my hair dripping, and took a deep breath. Wading back towards the sand, I crawled from the sea and lay on my back, looking up at the stars. I made a promise, to him and to me, to stay always, waiting...
"Wait for me along the shore..."