Posted on December  28, 2025 by Jenn Zatopek

EPIPHANY AT RUBY BEACH

Near piles of driftwood under opal skies,
I learned to dream again.

Off the steep path near the estuary,
I climb over a hill of logs in the foot brace.
A sweet young couple offers me a hand,
but I kindly refuse, scrambling over wood piles
as tall as my waist and behold glory–

Pacific Ocean shimmers under iridescent skies,
Skeletal mountains stand in shallow waters,
shrieks of pleasure from children so alive in wonder.

I skip to the wet sandy shoreline and fly,
dancing with raucous waves, soaring past
old mountains worn away by sea spray and time,
my foot pain washed out to sea. 

We hike back as swirling gray fog
rolls in from beyond blue horizons,
and I feel the dream of flight again,
how my foot bends in lightness and ease
as open and strong as water,
how this, too, is a victory, a healing, a song.

Image / Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington