Lessons From The Ocean, A Poem About Perspective

The ocean, any ocean, is one of my favourite places to travel to. There is something about the grandness of an ocean, the mystery of its depths, the power of its waves that I find captivating. Whether laying on a sand beach, sitting on a pier, or standing over a rocky cliff face, there’s something about looking out at the waves that makes me feel like I could stay there forever. This is a poem I wrote about the ocean during one such time.

Ocean Meditation

What do you see when you gaze out at the ocean?
Salt water, waves crashing,
distant surfers, birds above
flying into the fog,
or off the edge of the world.
Tomorrow is on the horizon.

The waves will still be crashing
then and we will still be swimming
beneath these restless
clouds, marveling
at the sand
pressed into every footprint.
Living and loving
and dancing in the mist.
I know now,
how to let my heartache go,
how to wash away
the pain from the jagged rocks
inside.

The ocean,
she shows me
how to love myself.
Powerful and unrelenting,
I let the love keep washing
over me, let salt water
tears cleanse my heart
as the rest of the world floods.
When breath is my only anchor
and I can’t bear the news,
the ocean teaches me
how to keep loving
no matter what is thrown
my way. And when the storms come,
because the storms will come,
to let that love go wild.
I feel my own soul.

In the depths of the ocean,
I see what matters.
The ocean,
she knows,
tenderly holds the life of all the creatures
in her womb,
violently protects them,
grasps their truth.
She was here long before I took my first breath,
will far outlive my last.
The ocean shows me how fragile
a moment can be.

Reframing one second can make a tsunami
sized difference, one exhale
can change a perspective.
You can ride a wave to shore,
or you can be pulled under it, tossed
around, at its mercy.

What do you feel when you gaze out at the ocean?
I feel forever.
I understand how easily it can end.

---

Thanks for reading! If you want to follow along for more content like this, subscribe to my newsletter to stay up to date on new posts!

More Travel Poems

• A Poem About a Once in a Lifetime Travel Moment is a poem about a magical moment I had in Laos, but didn’t get on camera, and how that affects the memory.
• A Heartwarming Travel Poem About Guatemala is a poem about a travel moment I had in Flores Guatemala that gave me some insight about some of the cultural differences between Guatemala and North America.
• Or check out more of my poetry here!