Nature's World

Back then there was little to worry about.

Life was simple. Easy.

Times changed slowly, like landscapes eroded over time.

Often nothing moved at all. There was just the landscape and me.

People often passed through, but they left no mark on the earth; there were no footprints in the sand.

I used to sit and wait for the tide to come in. Just a gentle rise in the water that no one noticed but me. It was as if the tide was teasing me, waiting for me to give up watch and go inside. I would catch it every time. I played games with nature and it smiled.

One way, I could see nothing but ocean, in the other, mountains and sky. To the west everything was ocean, or everything was sky, it made no difference. In the east, a violent landscape. A slap of tranquility that stung my face with its magnitude. The sleeping giants and the sighing mermaids.

Serenity.

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Something happened to change it all. Now I can’t get it back and I don’t know if I’ll make it through.

The life has been sucked from this place, like marrow from the spine.

When it came, the death throws came in contractions and the tide would no longer play with me. I watched, helpless, as it slammed its fists into the rocks and screamed and cried. Disregard the natural order of things, it said, I am the almighty!

So it was.

Giants played chess on the rocks and mermaids became sirens in the night. Nature did not need me, it never had. It laughed in the face of human suffering and showed me over and over. The natural order of things.

Chaos.

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What do yo get when serenity and chaos are done? Resignation. The silence of resignation is as deafening as chaos, as thick and luxurious as serenity.

There is a finality to resignation that can last forever. There is no white flag, but it is surrender.

So like an exhausted child in the final stage of tantrum, the earth succumed to its own power. The ocean rested, but it was not a gentle rest. The mountains stilled, but they were not sleeping. With nowhere left to go and nothing more to fight, they muted their voices and wept silent tears.

Life will eventually end here and nothing will be left.

When nothing is left I will be empty. Even I will leave no footprints in the sand.