Sophie

15

"Blue Beast"

Bare feet on the scorching sand,
running tirelessly toward the horizon
where the sky greets not the earth,
but the volatile skin
of the cerulean creature.

And I,
overcome with reckless optimism,
plunge freely into the water's grasp.
Immediately, it runs its teeth along my skin,
working to strip my body,
until all that remains
is pure, unprotected flesh.
Its delicate fingers
curl around my numbed ankles
and tug.
The ocean utters methodically
some mysterious chant,
and though I fail to fathom its meaning,
I sense the eerie insistence
with which the ocean sings.

Still undeterred,
I spy an opportunity to conquer this beast.
A flare of the ocean's strength
rolls into the land,
moving with silent and confident magnificence.
I move outward,
following the lure of the sea,
to greet the twinkling mass
that winks at the sun.

And that is when the tower falls.
All at once, it deconstructs into a chaotic mess
of white debris.
I, who thought that she could match the ocean,
stand hopeless
as the torrent of froth approaches,
as the arms of the sea engulf me,
as they pull me into the sea's mighty breast.

It is in those moments of utter defenselessness
that I understand:
to the ocean, I am neither friend nor foe.
I am merely another body for it to consume–
another life to fuel its power.