I come for refreshment, though not to imbibe
But seek sun and air and spirit inside
Drown in the lyricless melodies played
The rhythms of high and low tide

The metronome cadence of shore breaking waves
Laughter of children at play by the sea
Falsetto cries of the seabirds aloft
A twilight performance for free

The sweet liquid music soon lulls me to sleep
Plays in my head on a pillow of sand
Absent both lyric and orchestral chart
A melody I understand

I ponder the power of thunderous breaks
The grace of the gull dancing, mid-air
Distant horizons and uncharted maps
I wonder what wonders wait there

I taste salted air on the tip of my tongue
Stroll as the sailboats find their way home
Each set of footprints will soon wash away
Lost to the swirling sand and foam

I rewind the clock to the innocent age
There to encounter a much younger face
Reliving moments assumed to be lost
And moot to attempt to retrace

A sandy-haired kid with a fiberglass dream
Watching the older boys, eager to learn
Choreographs his inaugural ride
While patiently waiting his turn

As if lifted up by a magical hand
As if on a mountain, crests and descends
Suspended in time, forever, perhaps
A prayer that the dream never ends

Those rendezvous summers, same time and same place
Constant companions from dawn into black
Keeping the secrets you whisper to me
The reason I keep coming back

And though I grow older and slower in step
You still remain the most beautiful blue
Watching you, mostly, while perched on the shore
I live for these summers with you

With each passing season as time sails by
There's no resisting the pull of the tide
Surely as sunrise and sunset will come
The kid has to take one last ride

- J. Gibson -