Untitled (Press)

Your footsteps echo mine
as we walk slowly along the sand
and behind us trail two sets
of faint footprints
casually disappearing under the
waves' desperate fight to claim the beach.
The salty water caresses
our bare legs, still pale from the
long winter months, and we both
screech when the occasional over eager
wave splashes our clothes.
You stoop and pick up one of the many
sea-worn rocks and heave it into the tide,
as if with this one motion you rid yourself
of any and all of your worries and fears-
the ones that so frequently replace
you light, carefree laughter with a
silence louder than the oceans own song.
I stop to draw randomly in the sand,
intertwining names, drawings and dreams,
and you take this moment to wade deeper
into the icy, salty water, until it
darkens the bottom of your shorts and
you shiver at its cold, comforting embrace.
I come and stand beside you,
sharing in your quiet reflections.
Moved by the warm tears racing down
to cling to your cheeks, your chin,
I slip my hand slowly into yours,
sqeezing gently, and I turn around
to claim the warmth of the fire,
left to burn indifferently
inside a ring of rough-hewn stones,
and leave you standing there, alone.