A Fragile Fortress: A Princess’ Tale

 
Let me tell of you castles
 
I’m well informed on the subject
After all, princesses know these things
 
First, it’s quite difficult to build one
It might take half a lifetime, maybe more
 
They require extraordinary faith
Though some say they’re worth it for the living in
 
So I built a castle on the shore
Of the master builder’s hand
 
With more sand than you would ever need
To build a million fragile castles strong
 
Every day a new challenge though
Sometimes the weather
Sometimes the complicated plans that fall into the sea
 
But somehow you never mind so much
Knowing castles are their own reward
 
Finally, one day you finish
And find the fairy tales are right
 
There is peace and prosperity
In your kingdom by the sea
 
And so your voice goes to the ocean
As you sing thanks everyday
 
Though all too soon you forget a bit
That the nature of the sea
Is governed by the rotation of things unseen
 
The cycle that gives must take back again
And that  a sandcastle is not an easy place to live
 
Perhaps a better place to dream
And dream you do
 
And slumbering
Fail to hear the hand of the ocean reach out
Rebuking your efforts into a dissolve
 
And again your voice goes to the ocean
Though now there’s no gladness in it
 
You curse, as once you praised, your choice
To live so close to creation’s embrace
 
Faith, once so easy a companion
Suddenly the hardest thing to find
Just when you need it the most
 
So you pray unceasingly for the return of the castle lost
For a mercy never granted
 
Or so it might seem to eyes
Which only seek a vision of past glories
 
Until one day, the wash around your feet
Tickling along the edge of your toes
Seems to hold a familiar faith
 
And reaching down, you fill your hands
And start for higher ground
 
For living in sandcastles is what we do
When peace is our reward.

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