Ocean

My eyes are covered in sand

I fashioned a mask, hardened with sun

that smells of a sickly sweet hangover coast

and shows me a silhouette, dark in the distance 

My eyes are covered in sand. 

My mouth is silenced with strands

You fashioned a needle, cooled with a kiss

threaded your hair in and out of my lips

and left me with meaning trapped under my tongue

My mouth is silenced with strands. 

So,

I captured a bottle of clear ocean water

and swallowed it deep in my chest

it stayed quiet and calm

when removed from its home

but the walls start to ache

from the crashing of waves

and the swelling of salt

and the moments of memory

and the hours of asphalt 

and drinking the sunset

puts salt in my blood. 

I feel the ocean, 

pushing out of my chest,

reaching for you.