Walking Into Ruins

We made a castle once, you and I,
Long ago, two children,
with sea shells and sand,
And now our sandcastles have grown cracks,
And the sunset on our faces is long gone,
On this seashore, nagging sorrows,
and obstinate memories, wring their hands,
And cut like crabs into the flesh,
Conquering empires and crowning ourselves,
We compete, surviving this thing called life,
Emperors, alone in their kingdom,
Erecting walls with silences,
And cementing boundaries with words...