Low Tide Always Reveals

It is only now, at low tide that you see how fragile it all is.
standing on rickety legs, grey and dried by sun and salt.

It is only at low tide that the weaknesses are exposed,
and anyone can pretend it is a thing of strength.

It is not.

It is instead, a survivor. built and neglected and neglected some more,
its decline slow and invisible when the ocean runs high

when the rot lies below the surface, where no one sees,
and the illusion of strength prevails as the water pulls against the pylons.

There is work to be done. And time grows short.
It is a simple formula:

Neglect, left to itself, always wins.
Neglect, actively battled, always loses.

We rise and fall according to our choices. And like the pier,
low tide will always reveal the truth.

About this poem

I have a small group of themes that show up again and again in my writing. One is the idea of the work, of taking care of the things we call important. Neglect is the great killer, of things, of spirit and of relationship. A slow killer, but a killer nonetheless. Trust me on this.

The picture was taken in Rye, NH.

Be well. Do the work. It’s too beautiful a world to allow it to come undone.

Tom