waves on the ocean

As I sit here, gazing out to sea, there are waves rolling in from the ocean. Who knows whence they come; what distance they have travelled? One thing is for sure though: here they are destined to end, to break on the beach with a final roar of surprise and a foaming death rattle.

As each wave approaches, there seems to be so much water coming towards me. It appears so real. And yet the truth is that in that moving wave, the water is going nowhere: just round in a circle, ending up where it began. There is a waveform that moves, of course, but nothing of substance is going anywhere at all. It is just an illusion that the water travels.

When the wave breaks, everything changes. Then there is real movement, authentic action. But in that action, there is no longer a wave.

(December 2004)