A gentle undulation swells
Soon noticeable from land
Catches eyes of pebbles
That slowly turn, drawn to the scene
Expectation of the burgeoning bump builds
The ocean cannot contain the power moving within
Pushing at its rounded surface
A large, complacent gull senses his peaceful drift is ended
Lifts up at a shift in form below
When the point of no return is peaked
Then falling, foaming, crashing
As the sea unburdens all
Creates a noisy, messy ejection
That impacts harsh upon the grains of sand
Tumbling, falling, rushing
Pushing up the beach
Exploring shingle, lifting stones
Re-shapes the land
Carrying bubbles of spume from birth to the last
It drives on up the steep slope
Changes everything, leaves its mark
Fresh patterns, colours; all positions new
Merges with another breaker
Where it starts or ends becomes unknown
A stronger force with two, or more, combined
Until the inevitable pull to return becomes too strong
Diminishing, the surge subsides
Slows to stop
Slips back to where
A gentle undulation swells
.
n.b. Breaking Wave is written in response to the first Globowrimo / Napowrimo 2020 prompt of 2020. Find a metaphor based on a simple action to present an (auto)biography.
Christopher Perry 1st April 2020
Journey of Words 
3 responses
Lovely sustained metaphor. You got yesterday’s shore birds in there too. I forgot the metaphor bit..
Thank you, Jane. Not sure mine was specifically autobiography…apart from the birth…”noisy, messy ejection”…possibly an epitaph too!
We all come in and go out in approximately the same way. Some more messily than others that’s all 🙂