Sentinel (Poetry)

I feel the tide roll in — then back
further than it last withdrew —
it touched the foot of this old cliff
kissed once then off into the blue

as though goodbye was in its heart —
adieu held like a banner waved
to time gone by — the day adrift
and thoughts left drowning — love unsaved.

Out there — on the horizon float
the might-have-beens that bob around —
red sails of broken promises
ripped up by storms and nowhere-bound.

The hopeful fleets that romance launched
then hurled so careless on a reef
youth’s treasure lost and every map
a lesson on what’s counterfeit.

I’m lookout high up on the edge
where wisdom spreads her weary wing
and watches as grey ocean crawls —
the witless thief of everything.