Coastal Maine

--Something More Than Perfection Itself…

Coastal Maine, in and out, up and down, over and under, frothy white waves atop navy blue waters, ride in from the sea to paradoxically both entertain and soothe the soul.

Yet nothing matters, to those who feel the yearning and temptations of its mistress, to those who feel the pounding of their souls into this coastal sea, to those who feel the seduction of this place-

Coastal Maine---

Something more than… more than yearning, more than, not less than

But… more than perfection itself

Settles over, under, beneath, beyond this place, or that place, or any of the myriad places,

Coaxing its way, inch by inch, in and out-- or out then in, but always moving

Winding this way and that, over granite ledge, and sugar sand, or orange sand, or brown sand, or pebble beaches

Coastal Maine…Beauty unimaginable to people from “far away”.

Beauty etched into the fiber of Mainers, blinding them to anything less than,

But, always, protecting their place,  something more than… fiercely

More than perfection itself-

Coastal Maine, with its coveted coves etched into pencil thin striations,
crevices that stretch inch over inch, mile over mile, over mile

For  thousands of miles, jiggy and craggy granite coastlines, with sweeping vistas, tucked into every inch and from which to view around and beyond each perceptible bend on the coastal highway

Visitors, on high alert. Camera-ready

Teasing a snapshot of something more perfect than the something before, if that is even measurable--around the next corner.

The ocean, coveted coves, sheltered harbors, playing a game of  endless peek-a-boo with vistas that dot quaint fishing villages or sophisticated tourist destinations

Visitors-- searching for something more than…

Coastal Maine--that coveted place where oceans roar, shaming lions

Where instinct takes over, where breathing, creeps-- swelling from deep within, filling the soul with the essence of something more…

Coastal Maine, where the world suspends existence, right here, on this very spot that captures the essence of everything--

…Salt and sea, a haunting elixir,

flushes aliveness ….something more than…

like nothing else ever would-- or could be, but this does-- and is!

…The rush of the senses-- blending together: blueberries, beach roses, salty tastes   launching a frontal assault…searing the senses

Coastal Maine,

…Something more than…

Instant addiction…hooked on the very essence of aliveness as it should be in its perfectness, falling away from pedantic priorities of the this and that of everyday life as it used to be a second before this moment

Coastal Maine, the ocean-- crashing and straining. pressing against the outer edges of humanity,

Constrained, for now… by sand… and granite… and dotted shingled, shaker houses weathered steely gray, in true New England style,

Haunting…as the sameness of color fades seamlessly into the pewter gray fog-sky

Coastal Maine …shamelessly taunting, warning disbelievers of shipwrecks that have happened, …and will again, and of rip-tides lurking below the smooth surface where diamonds dance on navy blue waters, turbulence disaffected in this here and now.

Coastal Maine-- where lighthouses stagger themselves,  stalwart guards…as if that were enough…

Trying to keep it all together—the delicious wickedness of it all, and the ocean’s tender seduction—

A conundrum unwilling to untangle itself from the tug and pull

Lighthouses, winking in precise codes, beaming prisms in a fixed pattern, harkening to unsuspecting ships, warning them of something more than…

Coastal Maine, where blue seas portend playfulness, but bring torrid tales, some hundreds of years old, tales from lobstermen, themselves, with full-on scars and stories to tell

Coveted coves and jagged coastlines, dots on maps, in red-- where shipwrecks are named and dated… the widow-maker

If covert counts, coveted coves abound in covert coves, many still to be discovered --but there, none-the-less

Coastal Maine, shameless beauty,

Inch by inch, minute by minute, timelessness reigns

Roiling up the minutes from then to forever,

…in never-ending tides,

…never in exactly the same way,

…but as timeless as eternity itself

Coastal Maine…Wailing and stinging anyone who dares interfere with her moods, helter-skelter though they may be,

…And so it is, and so much more… on and on…and beyond…