CONTINUITY

SOUTH BEACH:

Her eyes, fogging in a warm salty blur, opened to view the final pale embers of the setting sun that

reflected long shimmering bars of light from distant horizon to the lazy lapping shoreline.

No one could hear her silent tears, nor could they know of the tightness that gripped her throat

where lovely notes once flowed. She was all too alone with the beauty of this moment as it cast itself upon her,

making her sadness all the greater: for there was no other to know it with her.

And so she wept a warm glistening stream of emptiness making a watercolor of the final shimmer

that marked the beginning of the dim empty evening to come. 

NORTH BEACH:

He turned the final shovel of sand and sighed, then faced the fading glow of the setting sun

dancing on the still, clear, horizon beyond.  No one could see the growing bead of sadness welling within:

nor could they know of the ache that gripped his gentle heart. Alone, as he was, the ebbing rust and pink,

and deepening blue-green beauty of this moment, now thrusting itself upon him, made his sadness all the greater:

for there was no other to know its beauty with him.

And so the single welling tear broke free, slowly making its way down the corner of his cheek, reflecting

not only the final fading glory of the day, but the renewed promise of a vast empty solitude

waiting in the warm Summer evening to come. 

BETWEEN:

The magnificent sea bird soared high, steering toward the final rays of the setting sun, its white feathers

reflecting the deep orange glow as it turned, waiting for the eternal darkness that neared.

For this great sea bird, as with all of its kind, had responded to the final call of nature,

marked by the fluttering beat in its heart old with age, that guided it to this fateful end. 

Higher and higher it flew, to die on the wing in the final rays that would mark its lone passage

into the darkest of all nights. 

SOUTH BEACH:

Through the tear shrouded corner of her eye she saw the lone bird circle higher and higher,

as though straining to catch the sun's final rays would mean life, and to veer from them certain death. 

A warm gentle sea breeze cleared her sight, and the sadness lifted for a moment when she remembered

the lore of a song she sang, in distant years past, about a magnificent bird.

One passage stated: "to stand where it falls in its final flight, will change the course of all life's plight". 

And so, with a fateful sadness and glimmer of long past hope in her empty lonesome heart, she stood,

brushed the sand from her hands, and walked North. 

NORTH BEACH:

He watched the circling bird fly higher, and as the gentle breeze cooled his cheek along a path

taken by the recent tear, he paused to remember part of his song from long ago:

"stand only where it finally rests, and life will change forever". 

What a fool to have written such words, thought he, not even a miracle could change my life now. 

My talents have faded, he thought, no songs remain, and on this beach,  like that bird, I shall some day rest forever. 

But as the final blink of sunlight faded, the magnificent bird seemed to lose strength in its wings,

and the frantic straining ceased as it began a slow drifting spin.

 "To stand where final flight ends" was written for the young, he remembered, to symbolize

the continuity of life -- and the burden of responsibility that those who carry on must bear.

I will see to it that this magnificent bird does not fall in vein, he said: at least for this moment. 

And so, with a strange expectation in his lonesome heart, he brushed the sand from his hands,

and walked South. 

BETWEEN:

The bird's heart quivered one final beat in the vanishing glimmer,

then magnificent wings grew furrowed in a rush of wind as its earth-bound plunge began.

In long twisting spirals, one turn inside the other, the great bird made its final moves

for nature's last call to greatness -- while two figures unknowingly converged toward one another

fixated on its final drama.  The sea breeze pushed the spiraling bird over the sandy beach

as the rushing wind opened one wing wider still, tightening its spin. 

And in a sudden burst of human feeling the figures ran,  tears growing in their eyes as they realized

that this moment was one of continuity in nature -- that living it this instant had meaning to them. 

In the final fifty feet of its fall, and a split second before its impact on the waiting beach,

the two figures saw one another and stopped.  Then came the moment of impact

like a down pillow striking the fine multi-colored grains of sand, scattering them with a billowing

slow motion puff in all directions.  Then only the sound of the gentle waves breaking on the sandy shore;

and the hiss of tiny bubbles; and pebbles swishing effortlessly back into the ever waiting ocean.

Then silence. 

They looked at one another for a long while, but did not speak. 

The woman took a small tissue paper from her blouse pocket and wiped the tears from her eyes. 

The man slowly reached to his eye, and with his closed knuckle wiped away a perfectly beaded tear.

They knew that there was something special about this chance meeting. 

Their silent communication spoke much louder than words, and the tears spoke a truth that no words could ever have. 

Bared before one another they knew that this bird, and the spot where it lie, was sacred;

and that there was something else very wonderful happening.

Together they approached the fallen bird and stood, still not speaking, one on either side

of the once magnificent creature. And then the man compelled by an inner feeling reached out

and took the woman's hand saying:

"I wrote the song". 

And the woman said:

 "I sang the song". 

The bird was washed into the ocean by the morning tide, and at the end of that day,

and for countless more to come, the beautiful sunset was known by two together;

 and the continuity of life, and love, remained.

   Jim Brennan

February 14, 1995