I expected a puddle
but I discovered an ocean
when I met you.

Your current shifts without warning,
But your tides are cyclical, steadfast.

You read true when a storm brews,
when a quiet day greets the horizon,
when a tectonic plate shifts,
And yet, I understand so little of you.

The depths unknown to human touch keep me guessing
because I know the deeper I dive,
the surface’s weight grows deadly,
crushing anything that ventures too far.

Life swims through you as I wade safely,
ankle-deep and unaware.

Sometimes your words become waves;
They often break gently when we disagree.
Sometimes the swells rise with might
and pummel the retreating shoreline without intent to harm.
The ocean (you) do not know their might.
I can feel the riptide pull the sand beneath my feet as the waves retreat, 
I steady myself while the water rushes back;
Gathering itself to unfold and repeat the motion in an endless loop.
You are wondrous, mysterious, and familiar.

I long to return to you.