Sometimes it takes a beach to remind me
How the world repeats itself:
On wet sand, walking from sun to moon,
Scenery repeating like a cheap cartoon.
But the ocean reminds me of
The cinderblock pool burning with chlorine
Where I learned to be afraid of swimming,
Fear that floats inside you for life,
So much water, so many years.
I look out across dark churn to earth’s edge,
I do not belong here, no one belongs here,
This is not our place, this endless watery place,
The beach a sort of uneasy armistice
I am signing in the sand with my toes as I walk,
The waves creeping closer,
Warning me to hush, hush, hush.

(First published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal, June 25, 2022 – thanks to Editor Strider Marcus Jones.)