Pause.

 

We would climb the highest dune,

from there to gaze and come down:

the ocean was performing;

we contributed our climb.

Waves leapfrogged and came

straight out of the storm.

What should our gaze mean?

Kit waited for me to decide.

Standing on such a hill,

what would you tell your child?

That was an absolute vista.

Those waves raced far, and cold.

“How far could you swim, Daddy,

in such a storm?”

“As far as was needed,” I said,

and as I talked, I swam.

 

William Stafford. With Kit, Age 7, at the Beach.”

 

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you[.]”

 

Isaiah 43:7