Salt Water

A woman explores her powerful relationship with the ocean in this visceral visual poem.
POEM
Cold
Washes over me
And I succumb to it,
Shocks me until I am numb to it
As much as instinct tells me not to
I run to it
And pray today the baggage on my shoulders
Will sink into this dark abyss
That the god I once found here,
Left here
In all her immensity and indifference,
Will be back with the tide
The hushed beast inside my belly
Awakens and growls louder
Its appetite threatens to devour me

The stinging salt invades me
Persuades me to push past the pain
To see what lies on the other side
Lungs bursting to breathe
Roaring waves pounding deep
Into every fiber of my being
Out here there is no apprehension
Out here there are no secrets
Out here I lie bare
I ask myself
how can a body withstand this?
How can it not?