October Photo Prompt: Sanctuary

A sacred spot 

held close to my soul, 

a granite place 

where we watch the wild waves roll. 

A place where my heart can be still, 

cares washed away by the sea. 

Its futile struggle against the flow of the river 

reminds me things cannot always be bested, 

sometimes they have to be accepted 

endured. 

Until, drop by drop 

the waves overcome the ripples, 

wearing down both rock and foe 

to carve their own path, 

create a journey unique to them 

and revel in the new direction they have found. 

The coast rejects them, 

throwing the spume back to the sea 

but she never gives in, 

never admits she is beaten 

until gradually, she finds 

another way in. 

One day when I am long gone,  

she will triumph and the tiny crack 

will split, 

and she will cascade into  

a triumphant procession  

continuing to forge new paths 

to meet with others like her,  

waiting just the other side of the cliff, 

each creating their own paths 

to unity and acceptance. 

And he will return to ‘our’ place on the cliffs 

grown tall and strong with age and experience 

and remember 

the lessons of the sea 

even when I am no longer there to remind him. 

Content to be himself, 

he will be happy.