Katie

16

Sunken

The innermost ocean seems calm today.
The sky is not shedding saltwater tears.
A sandpiper nestled in a grassy hollow
ponders the meaning of dunes, and fish.

The waves lapping onto the sand betray nothing
but instead are calm like a hundred careless lies.
A tired white hat has drifted onto the sand.
It knows nothing of the depths of the indigo sea.

The breeze picks up, carrying lurid tones-
wailing cetacean songs of humpback grief.
The mollusks' briny tears are swirled around.
Countless moaning creatures mingle in the deep.

Cast your soul far beyond the sand if you dare.
Cut the line and sink as deep as you can.
The murmurs and cries have subsided here-
Lost to the hush of an aphotic twilight.

The angler fish glow and the hagfish writhe
under the freezing pressures forced below.
Here the strange fishes lurk, still cloaked in sorrow
Even they know the secrets of ocean life.

When you leisurely stroll across a forlorn beach
Don't be afraid to peer beyond the glistening tide.
Reach through the waves, though old scars may burn
and haul my spirit back ashore.