Winds of Change

I watch four small hands

Throwing stones

Feet nestled in seaweed beds.

Fists clenched, 

Like the breath

In my chest as I hold

Tight to the 

Moments between us,

Gone.

The mist rises from the ocean

Small faces evaporating

Before my eyes.

Tears of change flow.

I've been a mother forever it seems.

I allow a ceremonial washing,

Naked I stand without

The long veil I wore all those years.

A small giggle tickles

My heart and I smile,

Then open my eyes

To an empty sky.

The small toe prints in the sand

Filled with salty seawater and tears

The smell of sweet breath

In the wind.

My sea drenched heart

Is heavy,

But this is the way 

It has always been

with letting go.

I glimpse the horizon

Of my life,

A heron, owl, hawk, and gull

Take flight,

And right within me

An eagle spreads 

her sovereign wings.

In awe of the surrender

to the tides.

We offer ourselves

To the winds of change

To mystery unfolding,

Free birds in flight.

-Artemis Mandala