Walking along the beach.

A morning walk,
  before the tide comes.

Man notices a child building
  Creating something in the sand.

Something makes him stop.
  Pauses and watches.

Child is making a bowl,
 building it higher,
  supported by shells and stones.

He notices something odd.
  An opening,
    facing the sea,
      built with care.

The child seems to look.
   Judging the level of the incoming tide.
     Adjusting.

Unable to restrain,
  he asks the child,
   "Why do you leave the opening?
     Surely, this will hold for awhile,
       and then flow over."

While still working,
  the child says,
    speaking in a voice older than his days,
      "I look at so many eyes,
         all seeming empty.
       I wanted to create one which would fill,
         looking up at the sky."

After a moment,
  the man started to help the child build.
       

Reviews

[Claire in VA]

Very nice. Whose thoughts were they?
The child's, the narrator's, or yours?
No Mona Lisa smiles, please.
~Claire :D

[Jon Roggie]

Corset hit on it. More of a parable, so I guess it falls on me. Jon.

[Claire in VA]

Gotcha.

~~Claire~~

[Jo]

Delightful. I was transported to that very beach!

[Jon Roggie]

Thank you. A moment when the words just felt right.

[Corset]

You should have more zen moments, this was delightful, amazing the thoughts of children, though I believe this was more about a man walking along a beach and building a castle with the inner eye of a child, and that is how I perceived it, like a parable of sorts.

[Jon Roggie]

I blame all of the Aesop's Fables I read as a child. Thank you, my friend.

[Corset]

my pleasure :)

[Matching Socks]

Fabulous Jon, very thought provoking, great story telling.
Really enjoyed this one a lot.

[Jon Roggie]

I was feeling a Zen kind of moment.

[Matching Socks]

Love it, great feel to it.