Listen to the wind

02/23/2006(C)

Joel Akin

Rocking gently in the bay

the words rose quietly from shore

and there came a blessing sound

of a wind starting to roar

It rose above the temples quest

and shorn the stars from their nest

and cut the lee from the play

until I turned the rudder at his bequest

Time came to make a play

in the roar of sea and shame

and the laugh of men did lay

upon the sand with mortal fame

There were none who saw that day

for darkness covered every play

yet there was a light I knew

which had revealed where anchors lay

I took the course and broke the sea

which had bounded me

I carried myself upon the foam

away from rocks which beckoned me

Away, away toward open places

unknown worlds unseasoned share

places not seen where infinity cried

with sweet senses that drove me there

Yet time held a precious card

called life and time and chance

with weeping tears to God I prayed

to break the cursed plans

There shone a ray of sun ahead

and I placed the tiller there

and rode upon the heaving wave

like stallions beating air

And then the sea rose one more time

and heaped itself in place

and I clung to prayer and wood

lest I lose this uneven race

And then in moment I gasped for air

and silence gripped the sea

and in the rarity of times unknown

My prayers were answered me

A dolphin rose from waters deep

and chatted song and dance

and mate arose along his side

and they kissed in wet romance

I laughed and bowed from standing place

then looked towards the sky

a rainbow caressed a crescent moon

and a hundred seagulls did fly

What a wonderful world I found myself

a place I had not known

and with careful heart I thanked God

for the show he had thrown

For I saw in it a majesty

that worlds had not seen

a promise, a storm broken, tempest forgot

its beauty like a pleasant dream