Shall I hold you or shall I set you free?
Your voice came to me from afar,
the sun was setting, and there was a smile
Shall I hold you or shall I set you free?
What is the home of this one leaf?
Where is the tree it once belonged to?
Shall I hold you or shall I set you free?
What purpose has the wave
that springs from ocean deep?
Is it aware of beaches far away
where it will rest its wing?
Shall I hold you or shall I set you free?
What happens with the cloud
that now is dancing with the sun?
Shall it not once return
and rest next to that wave
in ocean deep?
Shall I hold you,
O, shall I hold you or shall I set you free?
Your voice came to me from afar,
the sun was setting and there was a smile
and then a word:
there is no holding nor is there setting free,
because in oceans deep a Love is stirring all,
it sets out endlessly,
and it inspires the hand
that is now touching you,
O, then I shall hold you and so set you free.
(France, Biarritz, Sunset @ Rocher De La Vierge & Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains, Atlantic Ocean beach, February 25th, 2009, a magic moment in front of my lens)
Sometimes we hesitate between tomorrow and today, the burden of yesterday upon our shoulders as an ocean wave, too heavy for a ride. Sometimes we hesitate upon that selfsame wave, we hesitate, we linger, we listen to the wind perhaps there is a message there before we drown in thoughts about these waves that on and on roar through our heads as a forgotten love, long, long forgotten but present, each second coming, coming and again: you see Here face in front of you, with every hand She lays upon the beach a deadly kiss, but still this wind is irresistible, is loud and clear and yet again we hesitate, shall we then sing with Her this ancient melody, written in a thousand pebbles on the shore? Sometimes we hesitate between tomorrow and today, the burden of a yesterday upon our shoulders as an ocean wave, but once the die is cast we fly, O we sing, we dance and glide, no cold can hold us back, this beach is ours and we meet our Love, we roll and turn, become the Wave, Her arms around us, gently rocking, Her voice a lullaby we recognize from first we entered, O yes, and here She is, for us only for us, and up and down we go, we roll and rock, we shout exhilarated, we enter in Her curve, She is inviting us again, again, Her wave a womb to live our lives so fast and faster still until the winter carries us above the water, we have wings and eagle like we leave the cave, invited by the Sun as if we were a newborn Star, O yes, we shine, we shine with our new Light years and years ahead, beyond all hesitation found our Love, finally Home, finally homeward bound and yes, this beach is ours this ocean now our Home, and that is all we have and all we need, there is no hesitation in this moment because this is indeed All we have, O, All we will have, All we will have eternally.
(written February 25th, 2009, on the beach during a rain shower on the Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains beach near Biarritz, sitting on a dune, watching some surfers on the waves. I had told them I would write a poem for them while watching. After their surfing, the poem was finished and I read it to them. A magic moment!)
Boutman 