Along the sea the little boy walks,
clear skies, blue waters, air drenched in salt.
The white sands set his heart alight with fire,
in the plain white beach his dreams conspire.
With a grin he steps resolutely,
towards to his castles yet to be.
Feverishly he digs into the sands,
the stuff of dreams he holds in his hands.
Castles, kingdoms and cathedrals,
Xi Shi, Helen and Mumtaz Mahal
Kremlin, Eiffel and Potala,
Zeus, Odin and Gautama.
Everest, Ring of Fire and Amazon,
Cupid, Asura and Leviathan.
Orion, Scorpio and the Big Dipper,
Lastly, the figure of love forever.
In the sands his love and soul poured forth,
through his fingers fantasies take form.
For every grain of sand he moulds,
An equal grain of sweat is flowed.
With a grin his work is done at last,
brimming with pride he cannot help mask.
What was before just a plain white beach,
stands now a castle richer than rich.
But in the distance a wave he spots,
the daily high tide has not forgot.
Against his wishes he had long realized,
the laws of nature can't be denied.
The waves would have to run their course,
oblivious to the little boy's loss.
Every wave that drowns out his creations,
the very wave drowns out his heart's passions.
From afar the boy tasted the sea,
salty streaks from his eyes flowed freely.
Now the beach is once again plain,
alone on the beach the boy remains,
but the sand still sets his heart on fire,
in which his dreams he sees forever,
With a grin he returns resolutely,
back once more to his castles yet to be.
-- Isaac, 18 Oct 2009, 415am
We’re told the characteristics of the cute little boy at the beginning of the poem: innocent, optimistic, determined, anxious, and almost ecstatic. Then we understand how much he devours knowledge, and the tendency to be a womanizer(?). He also shows the keenness to belong to the world, and the aspiration to be an omnipotent.
Though during my reading I reminded of the image of Joey lying on the beach in season 4 more than once, what I thought more seriously are the castle building and the wave.
For me here comes another Sisypus with Camus' absurd. The boy makes the castle, and it’s the way he lives. The despair of a fearless dream maker can be seen, while we also see the passion returns even though the wave will surely come again.
And the more we live, the more we find out that everything goes like a circle. The wave, the things that happened, and the sadness. It doesn’t mean to suffer again and again, nor are we still at the same place without change. Yes the beach goes plain like before, but actually it has been washed.
(Then maybe, out of the destiny, we doubt a bit if the sand castle means that much, or what we ought to do is just meander at the beach? Well I only think so when I feel lost…)
Continually we can see a underlying paradox under the context of the poem (it’s important!): The nature and the love. If it’s impossible to deny the circle of the wave, then what the author wants to say about the everlasting love? It seems like a riddle folded in the poem then, and the answer …is rather clear…
(Or could the wave be the boy himself? Then it’s a question of philosophy lah)
Anyway this poem is full of touches of the existentialism, and don’t know why I can imagine the gleaming sea, quite good.