"Your if is the only peace-maker"

The subject is another quote from Shakespeare, As you like it, and again I ask to be forgiven for taking his words to introduce mine.

Please do not confuse my positive 'if' belonging to my dreams with the negative 'if only' that ONLY belongs in the past.

If I were a pebble on a beach,

   I would tell of the time I could reach,

To the passing clouds and peer inside,

   Gazing at the treasures they carefully hide.

Percussion playing white horses pound

The ocean’s edge and the sound

Waves to the shore

And asks for more.

If I were a shell lying on the sand,

   I’d persuade you to hold me in your hand,

Close to your ear, so you might hear

   The sounds of the seas both far and near,

Percussion playing white horses pound

The ocean’s edge and the sound

Waves to the land

And wakes the sand.

If I were a single grain I’d be

   Extremely difficult to see,

But gathered with others in a glass,

   We could measure the hours as they pass.

Percussion playing white horses pound

The ocean’s edge and the sound

Waves to the dune

For another tune.

If I were a dune a shape-shifter I’d be,

   Sculptured by wind an artist born free

To compose variations by day and by night,

   A truly moving yet memorable sight.

Percussion playing white horses pound,

The ocean’s edge and the sound

Waves to the trees

Standing by the seas.

If I were a piece of driftwood flung

   To mark high tide I’d have already sung

My song of life to the earth,

    With both tragedy and mirth.

Percussion playing white horses pound

The ocean’s edge and the sound

Soars to the sky

As the waters fly.

Image credit ROB

If I were a bird a woodpecker I’d be,

   Making my home in an old oak tree,

I’d hammer my message night and day,

   The rings of time echoing what I say.

Percussion playing white horses pound

The ocean’s edge and the sound

Carries through the water

With the song of the Orca.

sorry no photo!

If I lived in the sea kelp I would be,

   Young fish would find safety in and around me,

Fronds finding the light bending to the ocean’s beat,

   I’d hold fast to the rock of ages with my feet.

Tags: sea, sand, tree, bird, light, rock, shell, wind, sky, music