This Familiar Place...

"is it my turn..."

Strange old familiar place... sittin on the edge of the water for a bit. Watchin all the ships as he once was known to do... as a "No Trespassing" sign now sits in the trash. The familiar and the new bless both his eyes and his heart as some draw close to inquire about docking. The new, like the old, love what they see but he waits for them to see a bit more before they decide. He wants them to analyze anything on his dock that could damage their ship even a little that there should never be a question of what they're getting. If they should decide for him anyway, then he'd know they were worth their stay. He'd know they would find reason to come back from time to time. He'd know they saw something worth coming back for and... that they would treat his island with the care of it's value. He wanted his dock to be something wanted... well beyond something simply needed.

As such, he found his way to go about things. After so many years, he came to understand that flagging them down or even sending out flares was a literal waste of energy, as too many have gone ignored on purpose. What was all part of some sort of gamesmanship that was supposed to have driven his interest has only turned him off from even trying as he believed his welcome reception should've always been enough. No... now he waits to see what ship arrives, which inquire and which will eventually come to dock... even if it's just for a time or two. He's blessed to have real company. Those that simply come to rest and enjoy him and his island without pre-condition or agenda. The "moment" has become "time" for him... and what was once a ticking clock without pause, has lost it's power without any real moments to quantify the weight of forward motion. An idea, that is still anathema to most that continue looking for a place to rest.

Yet after all this time, he sees something happening. The seemingly worthy islands strewn across the seas have slowly but surely become revealed as the frauds they've always been and ships looking for places to dock have been languishing out at sea. Wondering if they will ever find a place to rest. Always looking for ways to survive out at sea without ever having the need to dock anywhere. As for him? To the surprise of many, while others have fallen by the day, he's remained as he's always been. An empty dock just hasn't hit him like it has the rest. He has no need to conform to anyone's standards and none could make demands he feels the need to adhere to. He knows what he has and as such, he has and will continue to always be at the ready to receive even those that have written him off. For what was once shown special and true, without a determined end... will always remain so in his soul. As his mind has seen more and expanded, so has his heart. Even as he sees more ships coming to understand the appeal of his islands "beauty of a different kind". The only problem he's come to encounter now is that some have come to see it too late. They shunned it for conventional islands that turned out not to be what they had thought they were. So some now come to him broken and battered with not much he could do but allow them to dock. Allow them to heal. No longer for him... but for their sake alone. Not for pity... but for the purity of the love he still professes to advocate for. Yet as he sees it... it's just another piece in the fabric of his purpose. Things have truly evolved differently than he imagined they'd be but at the end of it all... he is who he is. Nowhere near perfect but by the grace of God, not as flawed as he used to be. 

Strange old familiar place... sittin on the edge of the water for a bit. Watchin all the ships as he once was known to do as a "No Trespassing" sign now sits in the trash...

~moses apollo