and now the tide recedes

he and she, two figures clasped, one last embrace of bitter-sweet; the sun fades sullen through gray mist, reflects dimly off the orange rocks and skips the tips of blue-green waters— all earth comes from the waves and to the waves returns; and life as well, an ebb and flow whose impact is in no way lessened by routine. great empires succumb, no more or less than you or I; the gentle waves lap skin and stone, wood and bone, and yet: still we mourn the love that's lost when the selkie returns to sea.