the rock & the ocean

and the rock said "but if u love me, then why do ur waves keep crashing onto me?" and the ocean replied "because it is the only thing i know to do abt u. u r high n unwavering, expressionless but for your might. u neither bend towards me nor shy back from my advances. u stop me in my course, yet u do not block me from going around u. i know not what else to do with my love for u. i know no other way to illicit ur attention than for my waves to crash onto u, that i may feel my love resonate in u."

"but do u not see that u already affect me?" the rock said. "though the force of ur love chips at my being and eats at my flesh i bear it. because i love u. because i know that i am all the more beautiful because of it, radiant under the sun, my might softened by the halo of ur rainbows. n i love u for it. why do u think i do not move in spite of the force of ur tide? do u not see that i love u? why can't we enjoy our love not in contrast but entwined?"

and the waves softened their rythm and the ocean spoke somberly, with a quieter tone, as if with a sigh, "but u r not that earth n i am not that water. for we r not sea and shore, eternally bound at our edges in a playful embrace of passion. nor, better still, r we river n bank, subtle in our love, green in its effect. this is our nature n this is the nature of our love. it cannot dwell in docility without effect. for love is only that which is of effect. and i know not what else to do with my love for u."

then the ocean offered the rock a choice, for her either to stay him, bearing the force of their love, or to bid him on his course, never to see him again. and though the rock chose, she knew she would never be happy.