the shell and the sea-dwellers

Can you hear it?
The whisper of a memory caught in the hairs of your ears
A flicker of firelight just behind your eyes
An old truth in your blood

-
there is a shell at the edge of the sea
crusted with salt, weed and barnacle. (like little eyes)
hidden just beneath the sand, but you can see it in the moonlight if your eyes adjust.
the shell was forgotten about by the sea-dwellers, after a long time of being nurtured, and loved, and held softly in dark places. they forgot about the shell after the gold came in.
sea-gold is so bright it could blind you, and it lit up all of the dark places with a sultry sweet shimmer. and the dwellers loved the sea-gold, and held it in the highest reverence, for sea-gold contains the safety of being held in the shiniest, most comfortable embrace ~ a cloak of comfort, a remedy for a broken life.
when the sea-gold came around, things started to change in the ocean. the sea-dwellers became very busy. the creatures and caves did not hold as much interest for them anymore. in order to keep the gold shining on their lives, the sea-dwellers must work for the light.
swimming to the surface to feel the watery sun on their skin was not enough anymore.

the shell was cast out by a wave while no-one was looking.
the sea-gold and the structure of their days took its place.
and the sea-dwellers would stop once in a while, slow down, and feel a niggling sensation inside. something was missing, but a flash of darkness in the front of their mind would remind them of the light, of its strength, security,
its mothering embrace
so they would speed up again,
and the shell at the edge of the sea would go another day
missing the caress of their thoughts

-
there was a new dogma and his name was Time
and Time passed by the sea dwellers, standing at their backs with gold in his palms
talking very loudly, bubbles squirming from his mouth
surrounding them, little whirlpools of need

one night, some sea-dwellers had a call from upstairs
they rose to the surface and spoke to the moon. she told them a secret
older than Time. older, even, than their light.
the beings felt this truth sing over their skin, wash over the rusted welts
that the sea-gold had left.
they rejoiced under the stars
that somewhere, at the edge of the sea
was a shell, that contained the whole world and all of its children.

one by one, pilgrims started to flock to the edge of the sea.
searching for a shell with a voice that rumbled the waves into waltz
and held all the cast away fragments that had been lost from their civilisation,
their scraps of self.
and as they swam towards the shell
they started to notice a magnificent dust gathering around their limbs
and as they moved closer, the dust grew and grew.

the first pilgrim arrived at the shell at midnight
following the streams of luminescent dust that called him to his destination.
uncovering the shell from its sandy bed, little tears of remembrance gathered in his salty eyes.
these tears joined up with the sea,
and all over the ocean, there were small shivers of delight.

though the shell stayed in its hiding place, content in the sand,
it sent its little dust shivers across the waves
each pilgrim took a fragment back with them
and gradually, they are being
pieced        back          together

-
you tapped at my window
i opened the curtains
and you will flood my house with your breath
(out
and
in)