I went for a walk on the shore today

And did not stop at the sand.

The earth offered surer footing.

But it was the sea that grabbed my hand.

I thought I'd go just to my ankles

Then I was at my waist

And I kept on walking, walking

My watery path behind me - erased.

The sea swallowed me under its surface.

Drowned the sounds of the world I fled.

I could hear only the shifting of water

As I drifted down to a shallow bed.

I dreamt of trips across the ferry.

A little girl leaning up to the gate.

Fighting the compulsion to jump over.

And plunge deep into Northumberland Strait.

I dreamt of visits to P.E.I.'s north shore

Scaling the rocks to the edge of the sea

Sitting for hours on red sandstone,

The ocean rolling its power to me.

The rocks they stood firm and solid

But I longed to be like the waves

Throwing themselves at the shoreline

Letting the drops fall where they may.

I begged the sea to pull me deeper

Drag me out and wash me clean

The salt would purify my spirit

Remove every trace of where I'd been.

I wished to float like the driftwood

With wooden veins soaking up sun.

The sea would soften my edges

Carry me until my days were done.

But instead I awoke on the shoreline

Where the sea once grabbed my hand

I cried to see proof of my path,

My footprints, etched in the sand.