Proposal
M . L . E . Brown
The salt foam ebbs and flows like lace curtains trailing back and forth across a window ledge . Or like the train on a wedding gown .
She stands knee deep , staring out to sea . Even in the shallows , the current drags and pushes . If she just let go it might sweep her away altogether . But she doesn ' t .
A beautiful day wreaks devastating power . Some days are meant to be grey , stormy . Better that , than this callous blue sky , the insult of happy birdsong . Better dark and brooding , than life ' s eye-watering cacophony winding on and on : a nightmare parade at a funfair .
She wanted to come here , she insisted . Now she ' s not sure why . And she ' s not sure how she got onto the beach itself . She was inside behind a glass pane . Suddenly she is down here in the water remembering another day long ago .
She was standing in the water then too , mulling , while he paced back and forth up in the cottage on the dunes . His proposal had come as a shock .
Her hesitation wasn ' t borne from lack of love ; but from some essential doubt she couldn ' t explain to anyone , even herself . Some notion of taking the wrong path , an un-belonging in the life she was being asked to consider . She barely noticed the roll of the tide , the breeze against her face . Until some instinct made her look around ...
A beautiful young woman has appeared , standing next to me in the waves . I feel rather than hear her words :
" I am The daughter of Time and Rhythm . I am the centre of the home , the centre of commerce , the centre of the state . I am The Heart . I am the Hearth ."