Midnight Orchids

A wave arrives —
raw, insistent
A messenger 
Carrying a memory
Across an ocean 
Of neurons

I see it.
Feel it.
Let it crash
Against the dolosse
Dissipating energy 
Redirecting current
Slowed by reflection

I turn inward,
Hand on heart,
Breathing warmth 
To sooth the ache.

The wave begins to soften,
Transformed into a swell —
Safe, gentle, tender.

I bathe in it,
soaking in self-love,
letting the warmth cradle me
like the gaze I longed for
in someone else’s eyes.

I watch the waves 
Ripple out to shore
Carrying the salty water 
Where my tears met the ocean
Then disappeared into the sand,

I anchor here,
Gently buoyed now.
Grief becomes a teacher,
Sadness a companion,
And my heart
Rests in a safe harbour

Safe Harbour” is a meditation on the movement of emotion — a description of how memory travels through the body, crashes against the edges of self-awareness, and softens into something tender. The dolosse — those interlocking concrete forms used to break waves along our Cape Town coastline— serve as a metaphor for the inner skills we build through practice and reflection, helping us meet emotional intensity with resilience and grace and without denial. This poem explores the transformation of grief and longing through presence, self-compassion, and the quiet strength found in inner refuge. The imagery of waves and shoreline evokes the rhythm of healing, and the poem rests in the wisdom that even sorrow, pain and loss can carry us home.