Along The Shore Poem by Elizabeth Sheaffer

The ceaseless cry of the gulls fills my sun reddened ears.
I sit in a rocking chair that once was white.
The wind teases my hair, running soft fingers through the golden waves.
I close my eyes and breathe in deeply, the salty air filling my nostrils.
I am free.

I lean back in the chair. It creaks beneath my weight but holds steady.
The faded blue carpet of the porch feels deliciously rough against my bare toes.
My hands lock behind my head as I sigh with contentment.
I feel at home here with nature, at peace with myself for the first time in ages.
I'm alive.

I'll return to my life in the city much too soon;
This blissful place is not conducive to work
But I know it will serve as a reminder of my mortality...
As time wears on I'll fade away, but this beach shall linger yet.
I am lost.

You may chance to find me walking barefoot along the shore at sunset.
My heart will live on here in the sand long after the waves have carried my body away.
And should you happen upon this note among the rocks, do not mourn my passing;
For I have lived more here in these last two weeks than in my lifetime.
I'm found.