life must go on

sometimes ships come our way and we think they might dock. sometimes they stay for quite some time that we think they might dock AND stay. but when they set sail, and we cut the rope and let them go, we feel the space of seawater left. in the night, we see the white slice of the moon reflected on the surface, in the place of that most enchanting ship. most nights, we sit, stare at the crescent and wonder what's happened to the people on the wayfaring ship we've befriended. but we don't have that luxury night after night. lunches need to be cooked, papers need to be written, clothes need to washed and hung, dried and folded, put away. and the experiences we've had visiting the ship are now a memory in the past, whether we like it or not. and memories are just that. we visit them now and again but the time comes when we need to fold them up and put away. the time for hashing out the why's and wherefore's, the pro's and con's must come to an end. the time for fearing if the ship's caught in a storm, wishing it would be safe must stop for sanity's sake. the time for regretting we could have done more for the visitors on the ship must be put behind, and allow ourselves to be forgiven. and today's the day, i tell myself that i cannot take responsibility for everyone around me, especially if they are not in the here and now. for life must somehow go on... the memories of dancing on the ship, the brunches we've had together, the sharing of sunsets and sunrises don't have to be thrown away. we simply keep them in the folds of our hearts. we had changed while the ship was here. and hopefully we've brought cheer and inspiration to the visitors. but we cannot hang on to memories past, neither can we keep wishing for the ship to return because it has a course entirely different from yours. the thing is, that the ship belongs to the wide, wide sea and you belong to land, earth and sky.