The Inescapable Tide

Sometimes I feel as if we are merely doodles on an etch-a-sketch

or even sandcastles built too close to the shore.

We have spent the entirety of our lives building beautiful pictures

composed of black and white lines

and monuments anchored down deep into the sand

yet senior year is the sunset and we know the tide is inevitable

and in a few hours we will be nothing more than a pile of collapsed memories.

We have tricked ourselves into thinking our time was infinite like the vast stretch of

ocean sprawled out before us

yet it is now clear that we are simply temporary and our time is running out.

Despite the fact that we will have crumbled, the seagulls will continue returning day after day

for trails of breadcrumbs  and the waves will keep pushing themselves forward like soldiers

marching on a beach

and life will go on despite the fact that we no longer can

because our senior year has been a mechanical pony ride in a grocery story

and our time has expired and we have no more spare change to give away.

In a few hours we will be merely of recollection of what used to be

because senior year is the sunset and we know the tide is inevitable

yet with the sunset comes a new day

and a new sandcastle to build

and perhaps we will be a bit reminiscent because we have lost our spot in the sand

and perhaps we will be a bit reminiscent because someone else’s castle occupies the spot that we previously claimed

but there is something so beautiful in the fact that as the sun sinks down into the skyline

it resembles a pink and orange eraser

and we are erased from the shoreline by the relentless passing of time,

yet we are given the opportunity to build ourselves back up once more.

We are castles that have disintegrated like grains of sand being rubbed between two index fingers

our lockers have been wiped down with sanitary kleenex

and the graded assignments that we treasured have been reduced down to

nothing but a heap of memorabilia in the trashcan

because the truth is our time has expired and the sun is going to set

and if we simply dwell on the fact that we will be washed away by the

aggressive tide come sunset

we will not be able to start over again

So go ahead and dip your toes back in the chilly water one last time

go ahead and spend your last few seconds putting your finishing touches

on your sandcastle and placing a few sand dollars near the entrance

because you see the sun is playing a game of hide and seek

and it has almost disappeared.

Senior year is the sunset and we know the tide is inevitable

and we will be washed away very shortly

but we are not afraid

we are simply anticipating a chance to start over and build ourselves

up into something beautiful once more.