The Ocean of Love and Loss

Halfway into a lockdown that has put the world on hold because of the global Covid-19 pandemic,  I'm starting to feel the effects of being on my own for so long , without the option to venture out for some noise and human interaction. Spending so much time in my head brings up all sorts of things...and some of them compound the heavier emotions at times. Like now.

Last night, before I fell asleep, an image popped into my mind and with it, the title for this post.The ocean in Cape Town, on the Atlantic Seaboard,a winter's day. Blue,blue skies, gentle breeze, high tide ~ and rough. "Ok," you might be thinking, "and?" Well, this image is connected to a morning last year when I drove down to sit by the water's edge to try and process someone's departure. A person who came into my life unexpectedly,a person I came to care about tremendously, someone who gifted me beautifully unforgettable moments of romance, laughter, fun, passion and friendship. And left.  

No, no,the reason for the departure isn't as dramatic as you may be predicting! It was time for him to go back to his country after a few months in South Africa~ but I won't lie, I felt it as powerfully as the event in your dramatic prediction would feel. It was still a loss, the death of something that had had life breathed into it, and then taken away. Breath- taking. (Read that as you will)

So I went to look for some comfort in nature, and sat by the water for a few hours. (I won't bore you with the details of how many tears I shed or how many doughnuts I ate) It was once I got home that the words I'd collected there released themselves onto paper. 

Here they are.

The Ocean of Love and Loss

This morning I sat by the ocean and watched how it mirrored all that is happening inside of me.

How the waves moved closer and curved to meet each other 

like I, with you.

How they built momentum with their power to rush to touch

like I, with you.

How they rose together in their strength to hold onto the high

like I, with you.

How they blended together, losing their edges and folding into each other

like I, with you.

How they fell down together,breathing,but holding on

like I, with you.

How they crashed into the rocks and slowed to inhale, once again

like I, with you.

How they slowed down and took another breath before being pulled out again

like I, with you.

How they moved back towards the horizon, lower than before

like you.

How they looked to the shore for a safe place to land

like me.

                                                                   

                                                                                           (c) Francesca Pelli  11/08/2019

                                                                               - for F.M. -

I've always been a hopeless romantic. Words on paper have always been my outlet for expression.  Is there any better way to capture love?