This Beautiful Life

This beautiful life
With stars to battle over,
Longing to swim in an ocean of,
Feelings to dwell in the haven of;
Where we search for meaning
      and assume learning through reflections.
Have you held enough hands to warm your heart
      with integrity's shadow?
Have you felt enough grains fall loosely
      through eager fingers of morning's sorrow?

This beautiful life so lost in tides,
Here I swim again returning thoughts to horizons
Where ships spread their sails like birds on the wind,
Breezes for salt spray and crustaceans,
A laughing northerly and biting southerly,
The creaking wood that needs caulking,
Sealing boards of their sulking.
Yesterday’s tomorrow has yet to arrive
      and harbour intentions with harmless playthings.

This beautiful life is yours for the keeping,
This beautiful life is mine for the taking.
Have we these thoughts together,
Or are we separate like the sea and the sky?

Love without a bridge between earth and stars.

• 18th September, 2021; Paekākāriki