Poseidon II

I met Poseidon
on a desolate shingle,
an uninhabited strand
forgotten by man and time.
He appeared in the spray of waves
that crushed against the rocks.
Water droplets crowded around him,
and he glittered like the face of the sea.
He spoke across the shallows with a voice
as gentle as the whispering surf.

I ran to him, forgetting the world behind.
He beckoned with an arm outstretched,
with his gaze outstretched to grasp me.
I drew near, slowing as my feet churned
sand into the shallow brine, adding milky
swirls to the beryl water.

His skin was like pale sand
at the bottom of the lagoon, and his eyes
were the unfathomable shadow of the deep.
His hair was the darkest shade of seaweed,
and a small trail of curls traveled down his belly.
A beard curled from his angular jaw.
His feet were webbed, so that he wore no sandals.
His body was strong, muscled and sinewed
like the lions and horses of the sea, his subjects,
the Hippocampi and the Leocampi.

I bowed my head, giving obeisance to
the mighty regent of the oceans.  
He extended his hang to me once more,
and I waded out towards the rocks.
I climbed onto the jutting stone, as foam
and wet fabric clung to me.

He stood before me, appraising me with ageless
eyes.  As a child yearns to frolic in the swells,
so I yearned to touch him, to know him.
Poseidon spoke in a thick voice, but his words
were clear, "Little Runner, you remind me of
Caeneus, who turned her defeat into victory.  
You were accosted by waves and driven from
shore; you were pulled under by hungry
currents.  You escaped with your life, and now
you return to the arena where it was almost lost."

"Your life has lain in ruin, and now you seek
to rebuild upon the rubble.  You seek a better
path, but what wisdom have you to find one?
Your life has been short; you are still young.
Have you run among Demeter's poppies at
Thebes?  Have you contended with Athena or
Ares?  Have you seen the fire-breathing steeds
of his quadriga?  Have you seen the Hippocampi
that draw my chariot through the waves?  Have
you seen the coruscant laurel crowns of the gods?"

"Have you tamed the leviathan of the depths?  
Have you exhumed the secrets of dragons?  Can
you boast that you have dwelt in Atlantis, or
visited Tartarus and returned?  Have you seen
the beauty of Artemis and Apollo, or the grace
of my dolphins and Tritones?"

I shook my head, replying "No, my lord.  I have
only these two hands, for working hard, my two
eyes, for seeking truth, my two feet, for running
far, and my spirit of resolve.  I seek guidance at
the shrines of oracles and the altars of prophets.
I wander the wastes, searching for truth."

Poseidon's gaze softened, and he replied, "My
kingdom and I are ever-changing; sometimes
patient, but sometimes seized by unexpected storms.
Divining and foresight are not the gifts of the sea,
who cares not for time.  I can tell you only that
there are forces that reign, and rage, without end.  
The elements persist; but life is just a breath of wind.  
Fear profits man nothing.  Endlessly, time will wear
on us like the waves wear away at the earth.  
Impermanence is the curse and blessing of existence."

I considered his answer, and asked, "Where is, what
is, the purpose?  Why should we strive, and live, and die,
in this lonely walk upon a lonely world?  What reason
can be given for the struggles, the unlikely miracles,
the bizzarre twists and turns of our fate?  I do not
understand why clay breathes at all."

He answered "Perhaps the purpose is in the search.
Maybe merit is found in the fight, or reason in love,
or fulfillment in discovering something worthwhile.
Maybe our value is realized when we can attribute
value to something else.  Maybe meaning comes
from the design; maybe it comes from the smallest detail."

I asked him "Does even the lord of the seas have no
answer for the question of life?  Do you not know your
own purpose?  Are you not as discontented as I, left without
reason or structure, without any certainty of past,
present, or future?  Do you not find that you desire
to know why you are as you are?  Do you not wonder,
as I do?  Are you not troubled by the instability of truths
that we stand upon?  Are you eager to be free of doubt?"
I asked him the questions that I asked myself.  I spoke
out of the overflow of my heart.

He looked into the distance,
searching out the horizon with his eyes.  He spoke,
"I am content with the sea.  I have found that it gives
my life the meaning that it needs.  I am content to know
that there are powers greater than mine."  He looked
into my eyes again, and added "We must all find our
own meaning, our own answers to these questions."