‘The sea pronounces something,
over and over, in a hoarse whisper;
I cannot quite make it out. But God knows I have tried.’
From ‘Teaching a Stone to Talk’
by Annie Dillard
Sometimes when I’m walking on the beach I close my eyes and listen to the sea as I keep walking. It’s a way of shutting out the beauty of the visual world, in order to concentrate on the other kinds of beauty accessible to me at that moment, in that particular space.
The sea murmurs.
It sighs.
It whispers.
It roars.
Like Dillard, I can’t make out the language of the sea …
… although unlike her I’m not sure that I want to try.
I’m happy just to keep listening.
twenty-one words 
I love the soft, repetitive sound of waves advancing and retreating, like the earth’s inhalation and exhalation. So soothing. Yet, with great respect, I am awed when she rages!