Ruins By The Sea

All that remain are the ruins

Of a settlement that once thrived.

The people, their stories, their homes

Inhabit that place no more.

It had been time to move on,

Their play had come to a violent end.

As ravenous waves dismantled,

Cast and props had to disperse.

After a lifetime of fervent fantasy

The end was woefully traumatic.

Lives were lost on the shores,

Or in the belly of the sea.

Corpses fed the denizens of the deep.

Those that remained took flee.

Possessions rotted and disintegrated.

What could be salvaged, was salvaged.

Worked with, re-purposed, re-fashioned.

All that remain are the palm fronds

That bob to the rhythms of the wind.

The last to leave had been the loves.

Love had bemoaned the loss of the players

Through whom it had crafted myriad games.

It drifted, searching into far corners

Until it landed on unsuspecting individuals

Who seemed to walk forlorn. Verve stepped in

Sparked by inspiration and imagination.

Life is born again and again, to breathe in love.

Shapes shift, seasons shift. The song and dance play on.