My First Love (Poem)

(A letter to the Ocean)

You were my first love

Before I learnt that birds could reside anywhere on the earth

But I would wait to fly

Till the fruits of my heart ripen

And i'm ready to say goodbye.

You were my first love

Before I could understand the tide

Or the illusive brilliant blue

That would always surround

And I was abound, in you.

I loved you first before I was ever ready

Before I came to terms with the fact that the solid ground beneath my feet

May never feel steady

And when I placed my love in the hands of human fate

Like everything else humans touch

It was bound to break.

You were my first love

Before I loved the concept of summer nights

And sips of wine

Candle lights, frequent flights

The northern lights, romantic ties

The effect of butterflies

When my tummy dances

And chants its lies.

I loved you before I knew that a boy's kiss could feel soft

Before I hated the way the rain stops

Before I loved the sound of raindrops.

I was only five, when I was bound to you

Before I decided that goodbyes are overrated

As if my love for you hasn't been significantly overstated

You're the place I call home.

You once held the great Leviathan

Only known by the wandering sailors

And the curious angels

And you're the place, I call home.

And then....I met people

Whose flaws were even more vast than the length of your tides

And suddenly I didn't mind the pain that came with the goodbyes

Those overrated goodbyes...

I met people...

And suddenly little infinities and make believes

sacrifices blotched in memories

A gamble, something intangible

I fell in love with people...

With their crooked hearts and crooked ways of functioning.

But you were still, my first love

And you're the place I call home

I loved you before I could ever fathom the love in your Maker

And then I learned that we were painted by the same Creator

And for all our human crookedness, His love is still greater...

But I bet you already knew that.

My hope is in the idea that if I am grounded, I will grow.