A God and a Dwarf

The ocean is calm and wild. It is forgotten and remembered. Its memories seek their source. It is a child at play and an old man at prayer. Its leaves are rivers in a tree of sea. It is a higher power and an ant. The worker ant builds a home for the higher power in the waves. It is a country and a porch. The porch sails around its house like a great star. I am inside the house. I look out the window and see many boats.

The ocean pulls me between a language and a word. It is one word said a billion different ways. The ocean is a god and a dwarf. I am that liquid oddity so much more your neighbor than empty space. You yearn for me as if I could solidify your dreams. I am a mystery not because I am immense but because I exist. I am a dwarf who is older than time and younger than the wind. I know where you go when you dream. I know how to keep you from drowning in the vision of your sleep. Trust me. I have been around since the ocean was darker than a starless night. My skin is wrinkled like the age of dreams. My breath is like God's when he doesn't brush his teeth. My eyesight is dim because I live in the shadow of your dreams. My sense of smell is keen. Good dreams smell like cherries. Bad dreams smell like frogs. When you don't dream I hold my breath - sometimes for more than an hour.