Turning Back

I turn back and the light’s glow is neither day or night, And the lilting summer waves gently caress the shore. Worn black rocks, stand as ageless and silent sentinels, And a trawler’s diesel, blends with the ocean’s own voice. Small beach shanties sit atop the towering sandy cliffs, And distant boardwalk sounds echo in the fading light. How many dreams rose above those seagrass dunes, And how many young loves promised mystic eternity. How many countless yesterdays have now passed by, And how many long endless miles have been traveled. How many people have come and how many have gone, Disappearing forever into a clear black starlit horizon. I turn back and long gone are those tall, majestic dunes, Swallowed by the march of time and cruel ocean tides. The shanties have long ago crumbled like matchsticks, Swept into the ocean, at nature’s whim, without a trace. The tall worn black rocks have eroded down to pebbles, And the murmuring boardwalk sounds, long ago ceased. As something in life waxes, so too does something wane, And no one can stop this endless game of musical chairs, As we all whirl, spin and twirl our way through decades. But when the music stops, we’ve lost something forever. I turn back one last time to watch it all fade into nothing, Until my eyes only see the bright glow of a new day’s sun.