Why did the ocean
fling me back upon her shores?
I thought it was for an eternity
that I was drowned
beneath her seaspray,
hurricane of consequence,
To now be reborn
and lift this chalice of life
again to these feeble lips.

My mother, the earth,
dust of my dust
limestone cliffs
of my calcified bones,
chlorophyll of my blood,
sunshine of my heartbeat,
welcome me again,
as you did before,
and take me to your breast
as an infant born again
from your womb.

You could not bind me long
to a grave that wanted me not.
You swallowed me without
ever a thought, only for your bile
to rise up within you,
begging to set this captive free,
a man not without life,
with days still to come,
before death should claim him.

Oh glorious sun!
how I have missed your kisses
upon the sunset of my days.
Huddled in the shadows
of a darkened cave.
When my twilight came for me,
I let it lead me by the hand
into the night.
I did not fight
or even struggle.

How warm you are
on my heart and face
and hands again,
old friend.

You comfort me
and give strength
to old bones
made new, setting straight,
tall, and true
my tree of life
that I might reach
into the very heavens
with but the whisper of my boughs.

And you whisper back to me
with a voice softened by age,
hoarse with wisdom:
"Remember.
Dare to live,
make this second chance
far better than your first."