The Line and the Sea

 It was a December day in Boston.
A man and woman walked towards each other.
Neither one could see the other because there was a hill between.
They were both dressed in black.
Even as they got closer, they were still unsure.

They met at the top of the hill.
After 30 years the man and woman were together again.
They had been lovers in art school when they were young.
In those days they made prints and paintings together.
One night she had too much to drink, crawled underneath a car and would not come out.

They had no idea how to put back the many years that separated them.
At first they were overjoyed to be back with each other, then overwhelmed by the history they no longer shared.
On this cold wintry day; but they decided to go for a walk on the beach.
They found a stick and drew a long, long line in the sand.
Then the man and the woman marked off each one of the 30 years.
For each mark and each year, they told the other a story of what had happened.

The next day they returned to the beach and the long line in the sand.
Over night the tide had washed the line away; and returned it to the sea.

There are no lines in the sea.

Untitled [Big Sea #1] Vija Celmins