I see grey covered skies,
The fresh scent of pine
Chirps of blue jays play in unison
Wind chills trickling down my spine.
Lingering dew droplets clinging to leaves
Wandering past the swaying trees
Glistening sparkles colored sea-foam green
Wash over my eyes in effortless shine.
This glistening sea
With its fresh smell from the ocean breeze
Followed by the distant gull caws,
Shower tickling mists of crashing ocean sprays
That brush against my skin
Causing memories to drift in.
Fortresses built from childhood imaginations
With miles of sand to fulfill temptations
For swashbuckling pirates with stick swords
Battling sea monsters disguised in watery cloaks
And protecting pebble treasures from invisible boats.
If it were not for this place
I would definitely have no space
For happy memories such as these.
Though skies may be grey
In times of gloomy dismay
I will always remember you.
a nOTE
In this short poem originally taken from my previous work at Saddleback Community College, I wanted to provide an imaginative escape that calls the reader out from today's society and sends them journeying through the recesses and caves of their own memories that pertain to nature and child-like simplicity. In order to make it through the health concerns, political upheavals, and racial divides, nature, now more than ever, needs to be put at the forefront of all of our societal endeavors. Recollecting this cloudy day at Big Sur National Park, I hope that my remembrances of my own childhood can help heal those that struggle to take this romantic trek from the cloudiness of reality into blissful zen. Destroying this planet at the rates and bounds in which we are currently will also destroy escapism, causing imaginations to cease and focus on the pressures of this world.
-Ashley E. Roach
Email: aeroach77@gmail.com
Credits:
Created with images by Adam Bixby - "untitled image" • Johny Goerend - "Storm clouds forming" • Darian Garcia - "shadows, 7pm ." • Trent Haaland - "A pit stop along the scenic drive of the California coast. This picture with the fog, the waves, the sand, as well as the colors really come together and create this image for what it is." • Annie Spratt - "Man on remote beach" • Nijat Maharramov - "untitled image" • Ariel - "untitled image" • Tomas Williams - "Sandcastle decorated with shells at Sunset Beach, Vancouver BC" • Kace Rodriguez - "untitled image"