sand on my feet

sun in my hair

body exposed

to the wide-open sky

i wade in

it’s a hot day

and the water is cool

a shock of turquoise

so clear you can see

the ocean floor underfoot

once you were a tsunami—

receding from the shore

just long enough for

me to catch my breath

then crashing back into

the city i built for myself

progress crushed under

water pressure, shops and

roads flooded irreparable

so the next sea i found was

placid and warm, gentle waves

lapping at my toes, sun in the sky

whispering as it caresses me:

dive in, it says

wash free the previous sea

and the previous sea

was no match for me

so it comes off easy,

oil slick exchanged for

the salt-clean feeling

of emerging from the

brigjt blue sea.