They told the truth

when they said

life would not be easy.

They said I would

go around and around

repeating mistakes

until I arrived at the center

of my truth.

I would begin again

when I ended,

another lesson as one

completes,

spinning round and round

until arriving

at the center of another

truth.

Along the way I would

blow my breath

into the shell

announcing my presence

in the world.

Sounds from the horn of the sea

escaping over the waves

calling to the creatures

who would join me.

On the final tide the nautilus

now shaped by joys and sorrows,

cracked by not broken,

one final spiral in the

sands of time

silently witness to a life spent

in search of a lost song.