Tin Can

Tin Can was once full…
What was held by Tin Can got used up
Tin Can was empty and useless
Tin Can was tossed away and caught by the sea
Tin Can floats in the sea feeling weightlessness
It is embraced and surrounded by the sea
It is enveloped and supported by the sea
Tin Can has no destiny of it's own
Tin Can has no will of it's own
Tin Can goes only where the sea takes it
Where the moon tides pull it
Where the wind blows the sea

The sea does not choose it's own path
The sea produces life, the sea nurtures life
Deep within the sea this life goes on
This life is part of the sea
The life within the sea, created by the sea
Has a destiny of it's own, is protected by the sea
Life goes where it wants to, will go on regardless
Tin Can is not protected, has no destiny of it's own
Tin Can can only sit on the surface of the sea
Tin Can will never be part of the sea
Tin Can can only sit on the surface
Being carried along with the sea
Where the tide and the wind take them all

The wind is a force that acts on the sea
The wind creates storms, the wind makes waves
The sea gets wild, the sea gets angry
Tin Can is beaten by this anger
Tin Can gets tossed around by waves
The sea cannot help it
The sea has no control over the wind
The sea cannot help what it does to Tin Can

During it's life the sea has picked up
The detritus that others have thrown away
This flotsam and jetsam beat on Tin Can too
Tin Can can do nothing but be carried along
Beaten by the flotsam and jetsam the sea has picked up
Tin Can has no choice but to float with the sea
The sea is all Tin Can has got
The sea is all Tin Can needs to stay afloat
Tin Can needs the sea
The sea does not need Tin Can

A high tide… one stormy night
The wind blows and the moon pulls
The sea washes Tin Can ashore
Tin Can sits at the high tide mark
Alone…
Tin Can can only sit there
No longer embraced, no longer supported
No longer carried along
Tin Can just sits and waits
Waiting for someone to pick it up
Waiting to be recycled
Waiting to be crushed and melted down
Waiting to be turned into something new…