He was standing in the water,
trying to understand
whether his body was hot,
or the water was cold.

An old man in shorts and a peaked cap
passed by, walking along the wet sand
of the shore.
His naked feet left
distinct and deep footsteps behind.

A wave broke into foam
a couple of meters before the shoreline.
The top of the wave continued ahead,
covered the beach,
and then quickly
disappeared into the sand.

The old man’s steps
were still clearly visible,
but had now softer, rounded profiles,
just like we
sometimes,
when we look back on our life,
finally better can see
the bigger picture.

After a little while, nature sent a second wave,
which let its soft hands
smooth out the trace even more.

It was still possible to see the steps,
but only if you knew
that they ware there.

When a third wave
had put itself to rest under the sand,
the only thing that was left was the memory,
and the word.

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Image from https://pixabay.com/en/sea-beach-vacation-sand-water-1281780/
Thanks a lot!