The Old Man and Woman of the Sea

Heart and Soul of the Sea, and the journey of tears.

The Old Man And Woman Of The Sea.

Give us your tears they said,

Let them run down the rivers and into the sea.

So I gave them my tears

My sweet clear joy song ones

That sang across the meadows

That laughed through the woods

And burst out dancing on the beaches.

Give us more they said

These are not enough

But

I could not

Give them what they wanted.

I was holding on too tight

Hooked up bird boned swinging from a bare branch.

The wind came then,

And set me tumbling.

Give us your tears they said

Let them run down the rivers and in to the sea.

I found myself face down

Staring into a bowl of rich black earth

Scoured round with my howling

I wept.

I cried.

I howled and I howled

Til the sound seemed not to belong to me.

The earth turned to mud..

Then the waters welled up

In bright springs

In dark wells

It pooled and lay in ponds

It stretched into lakes and lochs

It ran in rivulets down windows

Spiraled round downspouts

Spilled over the gutters

It swept into streams

It burst banks.

It roared down the rivers

And crashed over the cliffs.

The old man and woman of the sea said

Give us your tears let them run down the rivers to the sea.

They sat and got on with their knitting.

He made a net to catch stars

And made them into animals that ran across the sky

She made them into orange starfish

She made pink sea anemones and chocolate brown bladderwrack

Tiny shrimps and blue lobsters

Determined limpets and the silver of fishes

Graceful weeds that dance with the tides

She made seals and whales and sharks

She made the octopus

Meanwhile her husband looked up at the sky and

Fashioned a halo for the moon.

Give us your tears they said

Let them run down the river and into the sea.

In memory of Anna, lover of the goddess and to all those who read and love such things.

wild wishes and blessings.

Amanda Claire x

PS I took this photo on Anglesey, Ynys Mon, (Mother Of Wales.