The sandy beach was covered with broken shells.
The countless fragments melted into the sand.
The shells give clear evidence of each life.
The sand around them remembers their ancestors.

My mind is also filled with evidence.
Uncounted people have left their own fragments.
Some came for just a moment.
However, I find traces of each moment within me.
The words they spoke became my memories.

My choice is not to see mere fragments.
These others fill the world with life.
Voices from each life have echoes.
Myself, I can’t hear those sounds.
However, I know a symphony has begun.

W. Wayne B.
August 2010