I shall be leaving for an unknown harbor
on an unknown date.
I shall look at the coast as it recedes.
I will count the terns
flying above the shore
and wonder where my luggage is.
I will sing a song to myself, consoling,
and the waves, each one,
as they pass, asking
do you know what the beach is?
What it will do to you?
But like children they will go on,
their shirts open in the wind,
their dresses trailing.
And I will think on that unknown day,
at that unknown time,
how strange to see their fate,
and see mine,
both going in opposite directions,
to arrive at the same place.