Forest or Sea?
I’ve heard that some fear the forest.
It holds too many secrets.
The sea is much more open, they say.
Exposed entirely—wave, rock, and sand.
But therein lies the forest’s lure!
The trees and the breezes offer me their secrets,
If I am willing to search.
What fairies might hide in the mossy caverns,
What nymphs in the shady hollows?
The forest invites me to dance with it,
And it with me,
And we learn each other’s secrets slowly.
But the moment I walk onto the sandy shore,
The sea makes known its requirement:
There are no secrets.
It demands of me mine in return for its.
I stand on the shore, battered by the wind,
And I watch the waves pound the barren rock and sand.
It has nothing to hide, the sea and its shore.
If I am to exist with it, nor may I.
But I watch the waves beat the bare rocks again,
And I know
I would receive the same fate for my openness.
However, I am more than rocks and sand and water.
I have secrets to hold, secrets to share.
So I leave the sea and the wind, always ready to snatch up my secrets.
And I return to the forests
Where there are secrets to hide, secrets to share.
Small worlds to discover in pieces.
Yes, I far prefer my forest dance.