oh,
how the seashell
screamed so faintly in my swollen, pinkened ear
labored from listening

mama's face open,
all lit up
and how she whispered "it's the water,
she's calling you
home"

and I
turned on my heel
fell into myself
my little face, stone-cold

and the sea
oh,
she got me
quite figured out

the lurch in my stomach
was her, and her
millions of
droplets
of doubt

we stopped the car at the ocean
and you all jumped right in
and I
hung back-
frightened
of the black, crashing abyss