in years past,
I came here for solace,
safe among
your calm waters
and we danced
a gentle to-and-fro swaying
with the sun
setting your surface afire
in afternoon sparkles
like fairy-dust.

I have returned
finding crests and swells
larger than myself,
though I have grown
since we last met.

I decide to challenge
your brave new front.
why do you push so,
old friend?
are we strangers now?

though I try,
my will cannot bend yours.
it is I who must learn
this wild new dance
you have chosen.

stumbling, and falling,
swallowing your tears,
I soon learn
to ride your crests
and lift with your swells

and when you crash down,
I must simply give way
and let you toss me
like driftwood.

soon we play again
in a game rougher than my childhood.
you knew me
more than I did:
that I am more than my past.
now that I understand
I can be with you
again.