Do not be fooled

The sea gives the impression of staying put.
Even as it broils in a storm, it appears to be that great thing
Deep and strong that will be there after the winds die.

But the sea is never the same.
The water that rolls in the wave today
Will current away tomorrow
Or evaporate into a cloud.
The rain will become the sea.
Leviathan will leap and splash it away.
And the littlest fish will swallow it whole.
The foam will seep into the sand
Only to be pulled out by the tide.

Today the water will look clear and blue in the sun.
Tomorrow it will chill into a grey-green soup.
And the weight of the moon will pull and relax between
And again.
Who can say it will not turn purple the day after that
Or phosphorescent?

The sea does not remain.
The water that splashes at your ankles
Has seen other shores.

Do not be fooled.
For nothing will remain.
The ways of the sea are
Beautiful and awful,
Changing and true.