RECOVERY AFTER STORMS

by John Grey

After a night of storms,

the beach feels damaged

and yet new.

Sure, the sand is a scattering

of much debris.

The stunted oaks

tilt even further inland.

And some dunes have lost their faces.

Others have gained new ones.

But the wind is as fresh

as the thoughts of a child.

And the seabirds gather

in numbers larger than before.

I tip my toes in the water,

feel the calm after so much

crashing and roiling.

The world mends itself

the way a starfish

grows another limb.

And I remember

how even my own body

has learned this lesson,

how it keeps on

despite the breaking.

From one battered shore

to another –

let us lift ourselves again

into the day.