Not a Surfer on the Shore

From the shore I watch the waves
rise and fall, rise and fall.

I see the surfers, with perfect poise, conquering that
seemingly indomitable force –
God’s loving wrath beckoning the brave and foolish to Crisis
and Victory.

I long to join those great warriors of the sea, but
my envious ambition is defeated by fear and doubt.

Then in shallow water I see
a gold-skinned girl laying prone upon her new
white-skinned board.

Undeterred by doubt she paddles, paddles, paddles.
Over and again she attempts a wave,
Over and again she is defeated –
Each time erring
less and less and less.

For weeks I sit and watch this scene and bear witness
to the Crisis and Victory that steadily brings her
into the fold of warriors.

With fear and doubt I cradle my new white-skinned board
and enter the cool chill of the sea.