our sister comes in iridescent waves—
ebbing and flowing coast to coast with the

salty breeze. flamboyant storms ravage me with
the coasts that erode the cliffs in our

bleached minds. wicked, wicked wounds overwhelm
the ephemeral reef: the heart of our own is very

much like the sea. we are swept away by the tide
like a drought in our tongues: no one outruns

the tsunami. it bears the brunt of our faults
and the burdens from our past: not enough,

never enough. soon we will be silenced:
spit acid on the pale reefs as our siblings bleed black,

but all is at peace, we chant (of course, it will all
go away). it’s hard to escape the whirlpool when

it’s all we’ve ever known. we always want more,
don’t we? yet even after all this time—

no one dares to raise their fist. we kneel by our
poisoned sea and fill our palms with the ocean’s song.

blow our conch shells to the skies: the water rises,
and so do we. oh, my lovely cerulean girl, it all comes

down to you. i am my mother’s daughter—
it’s our turn to pick up the shards piercing the

lovely, lovely sand: the nefarious graveyard far
too littered for lifetimes. and now we speak, our

words like matches, bodies made of fury and flame
& hearts beating to the rhythm of the sea.