The Word in Focus with Dr Larry Taylor

while standing on the seastrand 

as gale force winds whip whitecaps into froth

and driving rain mixes with fog to 

eliminate visibility

no vessels in sight

except a lone coast guard cutter

submerged

now breaching

washed with salt water

hatches sealed tight

white knuckles on the helm,

i contemplate enigmatic questions of

primordial origins

the etiology and eschatology of

an infinite cosmos 

what erodes? 

what endures?

is anything permanent?

who am i?

do i matter?

from whence did i come?

where am i going?

why am i here?

ancient sorrows swirl like the surf

crashing into consciousness

woundedness from antediluvian tribal

ancestors, pawns of kings

discounted, seeking solace in intoxicating

weeds only to implode inwardly into despair

tiny child within wails in fear

looking into the face of 

annihilation

oblivion

chaos seas, nonbeing, nonmeaning 

nothingness

there, through the mist, just offshore

rises a rock around which i have

scuba dived in calmer times

massive, its kelp hair drenched as it is

baptized a thousand times

only to emerge unscathed

protecting tiny fish, anemone, crabs, and octopus

that will ride out this storm under the shadow of

petra saeculorum