Two Lovers and the Sea

i. and have you ever been to the ocean, my love? have you ever been down to the shore?
no, i've never been to the ocean, beloved, but i'd go anywhere with you.




ii. She lived by the ocean when she was young. Not always, of course, because no one leads a perfect life, but every summer her window opened to the beach, with the waves as her lullaby.




iii. ocean
w
   a
      v
         e
            s
roar in their beds tonight -
unhappy
unsettled
tattered and worn.

the salt air
stings

on my skin tonight -
fierce and ungrateful
loving
yet cruel.




iv. When she was older, the ocean-house went away. That summer, she opened her window vainly, trying to catch even a hint of sea-breeze.

It didn't work. There was none to be found.




v. i dream of oceans all night long the sea-foam dances in my dreams
it bubbles scrapes scours and SCREAMS across my flesh it swallows me up
oh ocean won't you please come swallow me up don't let me wake
i want the ocean i want the SALT i want the noise i want the smell
i want to emerge from the water sticky with skin reddened from sand with my eyes watering
stinking of dead things




vi. For a long, long time, she missed the ocean terribly. She cried for it, at night, late when no one would hear her. Sometimes she would taste her tears, pretending to herself that she had opened her mouth - just a little - beneath the water.




vii. and tonight, dearheart, tonight, my sweet
will you slip out and swim in the ocean with me?




viii. Eventually, the ocean became just one more ache in her heart.




ix. _{Beneath the moonlight, bright as noon
We dance and laugh on the foaming shore.
Hand in hand and step by step
We speak eternal and kiss yet more.}




x. She has almost forgotten the ocean when she meets you, but your smile sends it rushing back. Your cheekbones echo the shape of the wind as it teases the waves into a flurried frenzy, and when she lays her head on your chest and sleeps, she has her ocean back.




xi. you had only to ask, my own. i'd do anything for you.