What Stays

Waves erase each measured track,
Yet pulse through salt and air;
Feet fade fast when tides pull back,
But stride shapes those who stare.

Sand records a brief design,
Then breaks beneath the foam;
Choice carves deeper, line by line,
Inside the soul called home.

Palms lean hard against the breeze,
Clouds drift, then disappear;
Still, one calm walk beside the seas
Can steady years of fear.

Not every mark demands to stay,
Nor every path needs praise;
A quiet step at close of day
Can kindle altered ways.

The shore forgets each passing heel,
The surf revises the ground.
Yet hearts recall what actions seal
When truth moves without sound.

So leave no monument of stone,
No boast the tides defend;
Walk with grace, and that alone
Will echo past the end.