The Ocean

I’m at the ocean again, 

and I feel at home again. 

The salt breeze always reminds me of seaweed, 

green string stitched into blue silk, 

brown tangles piled on the rocks' edge. 

I just say it all adds to the allure of this place, 

never-ending blue followed by the whole cloudless sky. 

My feet pound, pound, pound,  

up the beach, 

crashing through the ice cold waves. 

The sting hits, 

like a friend smacking you over the head, 

when you tell a bad joke. 

My heart thrums, thrums, thrums, 

to the beat of wind. 

I can’t feel my limbs anymore, 

my fingers are turning white. 

Yet still, 

I forget about my sundress, 

bright as mid-July. 

My legs take me far out, 

until I must stand on my very tippy toes, 

in order to breathe in and out, 

the magical sea air, 

and the feeling of salt crusting my hair, 

and the sand under my feet, 

and the chill seeping into my bones. 

This all reminds me 

of everything I need in life.