Low tide,
there’s nowhere left to hide,
I fell asleep and dozed,
and now I’m all exposed.

Hear the echoes of the distant rain and thunder
that have fed and torn the distant waves asunder.
Every tide pool seems to hold a world of wonder,
where anemones slow dance with the sea stars in a trance.

Full moon,
not a moment come too soon;
seeing all the dark and bright,
curious shadows in the night.
Full moon.

I can see the hermit crabs brawl like beginners,
While the octopus waits still to grab his dinners,
Every urchin, muscle, snail, strive to be winners
in a motion slow and sleek, ever finding as they seek.

Low tide,
there’s nowhere left to hide,
I fell asleep and dozed,
and now I’m all exposed.
_______

Copyright 2025 M. Ryan Taylor

Note: Is this song about life in tide pools? or about watching the drama unfold within us when that secret life and inner conflict is ‘exposed’? How about both? When I started with the title ‘low tide’ I was definitely thinking of writing about hitting rock bottom, but then I thought about visiting the tide pools at Dana Point and walking among all these beautiful wonders that are only exposed when the water recedes. If you work at it, there comes a point when the scientist in you can dispassionately view the internal dramas found inside with curiosity, rather than get bogged down in despair; that’s one of the points of practicing meditation. For a music video, that will probably never get made, I thought it would be cool to have me singing the opening chorus and then zoom in on me ripping open my shirt and instead of my chest, finding this tide pool drama going on … sort of reminiscent of Peter Gabriel’s Digging in the Dirt video.

Photo: Dawn Casey via Pixabay

Post filed under All UkulelePlay! Blog Posts.