Sandcastles

I learned one day [twas a summer day] the meaning of life and its curious way
I was at the beach when it came to me that there is so much more to see
Than Waves as They lap like an old lover on the Sand.
How you can hold neither one with an open hand,
Though together they build a castle grand.
Enchanted by turrets of simple design, what beautiful outcomes when unlike combine.

What power you wield when you harvest water so free
Take for yourself a bit of the sea
For what is an ocean without each drop, what is a shore without each grain
What simple thoughts to entertain.

As my castle grew higher, each addition so planned,
The Waves grow closer to Its lover, the Sand.
But how can I stop such a natural thing? None can do so, neither pauper nor king.
What of the Moon and it's purpose pure? What of the tides that run so sure?

What then of my masterpiece?
Does its wonder detract from the fact so assured that everything beautiful will eventually cease?
So many questions you may inquire as I add dainty shells to each towering spire.

Haven't you built a sandcastle before
So close to where the Sea meets its lover the Shore?
Or have you left the beach before that fateful reach
And fail to learn the only lesson those beloveds can teach?

What I learned is that all things in life die,
The love in your heart and the clouds in the sky.
Your friends and your enemies will one day be gone
For everyone moves to the beat of one song.

At first I was angry, my work and my toil!
Sand, I concluded, is simply just soil.
But then I saw truth so simple and sweet
Of each grain settled below my feet.

What I saw was my hard work destroyed
Nothing to show for, my heart so devoid.
But what of the Sea and its wish so fulfilled?
I saw it so clearly as my own tears were spilled.

Though it took what I treasured [though I know it was fleeting]
I heard so faintly that Its own heart was beating,
Longing so dearly for its lover the Sand
Never truly together, Ocean and Land.

Forces resume, Moon's inevitable tide
Teasing the groom away from its bride.
So I let my castle wash away,
It's the closest I've gotten to learning today.