Ebb And Flow (A Poem About Change)

Explore the natural cycles of life, from the exchange of breath and ocean tides. Reflect on the sun’s rhythm of action and rest, the moon’s phases of change, and the shifting seasons that shape our experiences.

Tying these rhythms to human existence, the journey suggests we grow, age, and die within nature’s cycles. What if we could view death as a transformation, not an end, where the body enriches the earth and the soul moves onward, presenting life and death as interconnected phases of a continuous journey?

Transcript

What goes in,

Must go out.

Our breath,

Our breath.

Each in-breath followed by an out-breath.

And the ocean tides,

Waves crashing upon the shore.

The ebb and flow of breath and tide and life.

What goes up,

Must go down.

Our emotions peak and troughs.

Our energy rises and falls.

Nature has its own rhythms.

The sun,

Always shining,

Shines on half the world at a time.

Giving us night,

Giving us day.

Time for action,

Time for rest.

And the moon,

Reflecting the light of the sun,

Waxing and waning from our perspective,

Influencing nature in so many ways.

The seasons change and shift and alter our environment to give us earthlings a varying experience of nature,

Of ourselves.

We all function within the rhythms of nature,

Within the rhythms of life.

We grow,

We age,

We die.

And our final out-breath,

A transformation,

If only we could see it differently.

We would know,

In our bones,

That while these bodies return to the earth,

Enriching the soil with the elements that these bioforms are made of,

Something beyond carbon,

Nitrogen and water is released.

The soul,

That which animates and moves and seems to disappear,

Is released from the body,

Transitioning onward to the next in-breath.

To the next in-breath.

We live,

We breathe,

We transform.

Life,

An ebb and flow.

Breath,

An ebb and flow.

Growth,

An ebb and flow.