The sand silent

The sand silent

The expansive body of the ocean.
Waves, symphonies of timeless ballads
wash ashore.  The sand silent.

The stars staggered,
littered by the debris of shrapnel.
The blue water turns red.
The expansive body of the ocean.

The ocean not on fire,
and the sand not a buffer.
Tears became prayer. The salt of
the sea stung.  The waves
wash ashore.  The sand silent.

Hearts drowning out the sound of
explosives, beating to remain alive.
Waves form, wash ashore.
The expansive body of the ocean.

Bombs propelled.  Every direction
reaching, extending peace instead of blame.
Waves break, wash ashore.
The sand silent.

The salt, the stars, the tears, the waves,
the ocean.
The swirling ‘being’ distorted, alive.
The expansive body of the ocean
washes ashore.
The sand silent.

Inspired by Alicia Rebecca Myers poem “The Bush”
Every time I thought of anger, or fear or revenge, I breathed it out.  I tried to think of what I
was grateful for—the bush that hid me so well that even birds landed on it, the birds that
were still singing, the sky that was so blue.
~~~Maya Alper, survivor of Hamas’ attack on the Tribe of Nova music festival