Your comments helped inspire me to rewrite this. I think of it as a poem, so I formatted it to read more like a poem that doesn't rhyme.

BORN BESIDE THE SEA


I was born beside the sea and it resides within my soul.
As with all things worthy of love, the sea flows with beguiling complexities.

The ageless and ancient oceans can be compared to the many wonders of this earth.
But none can surpass the haunting and secret depths of the sea.

The war between water and earth provides a dynamic energy that artists forever strive to capture.
Yet, it can become fouled and the beauty damaged so that I turn my eyes away in shame.

Moisture, salt, earth, exotic creatures, rotting flesh, and debris are all of the sea.
The waters nourish the red flesh of salmon, sweet meat of crabs, buttery clams, and then me.

There is no sound as loud or as quiet as the sea.
Surrounded by the fluid crash of water against the shore, it's as if no one else exists.

The gentle waves move the shifting sand beneath my toes and sooth my grief and turmoil.
An unbearable pain is soothed in the face of the sea breeze and roar of the breaking wave

Each second brings constant change and movement, yet it's always the same sea of my birth.
It is so familiar and there is no greater mystery.

Though, my trust cannot be placed upon these beloved waters.
So easily, deception of the deep could take my breakfast, my courage, or even my last breath.

It’s powerful forces are indiscriminate and it has no compassion.
It takes a tree, a child, or millions of grains of sand to flow within its dark belly.

It is life and it is death.
When only my spirit remains, it will endure.