By Linda Fay

Word Count: 300

Rating: G

Summary: A poem of facing the unknown.

Come swimming, my darling, my lonely-eyed one,
Come swimming, our journey is hardly begun.
This dark-pebbled shore brings us down to the sea
But we must decide now to linger or leave.

This island has hurt me; I know that full well,
As I stand here, uncertain, and talk to myself,
Alone with the water that kisses my feet
Catching glimpses of beaches far out of my reach.

Afraid of the distance, afraid to depart,
While storm-ridden sea-foam still keeps us apart –
These islands that all have come forth from the sea,
The same crashing current that flowers between.

If we will not ride in the thundering spray,
Like dolphins, daring to dive in and play,
If we never risk being carried away,
We will drown in the puddles and slowly decay.

All time has a limit – in time I must choose,
The water is cold as I take off my shoes
The boiling surface is waiting, untrod;
They say that it mirrors the smile of God.

I do not set forth empty-handed from here,
Not idly have hours evolved into years
This island has given me visions of stars;
I harvest the hope I have grown in the dark.

How barren, the place I am leaving behind!
How wild, the place I am going to find!
The ocean was calling before I was born
Connecting my island with other lone shores

Where other lone wanderers tremble to trust
The sundering seas that separate us
We leave and let go, losing ourselves
In the wake of the Love that washes the worlds.

Come swimming, my darling, like one of the brave,
Come swimming, our road takes us into the waves
Dividing, a wilderness walling us in,
Uniting, as long as we learn how to swim.