I Am a Wave

I am a wave of pulsing magnitude

cresting in my competence

to lay my thoughts and melodies

with an ease so powerful

it suggests I should forever attempt

to remain in the high swell

because it feels easy

because it feels good

Because from this height, I can see everything

my view is not on trial,

prosecuted by self-doubt

But this moment is not to be sustained.

Because just as easily as the wave’s peak

summits its capabilities,

does it roll back down

collapsing within and toward itself

surrounded by taller, better waves—

waves that roar with such confidence

they extract any and all of which is left

from the dark, wet valley

in which I soon find myself paddling

I am treading water

in the depths of a salty and vengeful ravine,

while I lay shallow in my own esteem,

and only a sliver of suspended sky

to draw upon inspiration

Sulking in the pits,

I grieve the vastness of the world

I can no longer see

And then

time passes…

And the wave shifts beneath me

Hurling me toward the heavens

that I, only a moment ago

despaired were so untouchably beyond my grasp

And for a sacred moment,

I find myself surprised—

I find myself resilient

I find myself, once again

dancing at the water’s crest

Ready to be great,

prepared to fall again,

but beautifully assured

by the promise of the pattern.