I took you to the sea today
The first time since Yule.
You always felt alive by the ocean.
Salt water in your veins.
The waves crash like your heart beat.
The air full of iodine.
Your hair dances in the wind like seaweed in the ocean's shifting tides.

We had to choose between dry land and being close to sea.
No hesitation, the sea called to you.
Pools of water on the shoreline
The tide not fully out.
I walk along the stony edge to keep my boots dry.
The sea washes over me, fills my boots with brine.
A curse, a staggered step and I'm in water.
Splash splash splash
Through shallows till it covers my boots.
I hear splashing steps behind me,
It must be you following on.
Not wanting to be a spoil sport I march on.
Cross one pool then the next.

Salty water laps around my knees.
Boots soaked with water, socks squelch with every step.

This was where you wanted us to be,
So I went where you pointed the way.
Yet I'm the one on dry sand and you're not even near.
I walk on till I reach the bridge and not a word from you.
I turn and head back expecting to see your flushed face approach
Giggling as you'd found a pup to play with or admire.
But no sign of you.
High above a sea gull cries.
Maybe it's you.
Maybe it's me.
Maybe its both of us.

The distance grows between us and you should be standing near.

It is not my choice to stand here,
Yet here I am. Alone.
My feet grows colder, time to march on.

I find you near the car later
Your face is dark and full of thunder.
Words thrown like punches,
Striking home with crunching force.
Tears run down our faces.
The sun returns from behind a cloudy blanket.
A moment of lucidity between us, an unspoken truce.

Apologies come like hail.
One by one then in a torrent from us both.
Hands reach out and grip the other,
Pull the other into a loving hug.
We saw a world without the other,
Rekindled love renews the bonds between us.

Fingers interlinked we walk along together.
Forgiveness and devotion
Unspoken but evident in our laughing faces.