topsail

Begin
Is a rare word,
The dictionary tells me.

It means

To be cut open,
To be opened up.

I am thinking of this
As I walk along the beach
And the wind grows strong
And I step into a wave

At the wrong time

And the wave
Hurls me to the ground.

My eyes stay open.
The water is white.

I am powerless
And torn
And empty.

I stand up and fall
Into the next wave.

It carries me out
To a sheltered space

Where I begin again.

Afloat,
I marvel:
The sky is blue
And I am alive
And so is the sea
And the air
And the sun.

It's good.
All so very good.

It is a rare thing,
Beginning.

One Single Impression