water wraps around my legs

sticky with salt

and bone numbing wisdom

 

my fingertips stroke murky clouds

billowing across

the sea’s glass

 

feet sink deeper into sand with

each ebb

of ocean. Water laps at my thighs

 

navel

 

                      breasts

 

                                                 collarbone

 

                                                                            neck

 

                                                                                                   lips

 

 

silencing

my untamed tongue

 

 

savory silk flows into my

lungs

filling

them

 

 

filling them

 

 

tears gather on my eyelashes

as the stinging tide reaches my

eyes

 

 

seeing with new

seeing new

 

 

cheeks

 

                      nostrils

 

                                                 ears

 

                                                                       forehead

 

                                                                                                   scalp

 

 

another indifferent lick of water

and I am engulfed

 

mute

but resonant.

 

blind

but visionary.

 

suffocating

but grounded.

 

and I stare

I stare

staring

 

through foggy drifting waves

 

naked

I know all but my own skin.