I’ve always known it was the water that connects us Not just the waves, soothing, rolling Not just the community built within, Not just the rain falling quietly in the thick breeze of the Florida afternoon But in all of it Even the new water Frozen and pristine and soft the kind that surrounds us now. You are always with me, No matter where I go, Seemingly intertwined with my existence But I have always been afraid to write about my ocean Because with the written word I am compelled to search through all of it The beautiful coral that lies just underneath the surface And the hidden depth that’s a secret to most For how can I express my love for you If you are but an ocean partially explored The fear is cold Unspoken understood While great revelation might be a few written lines away Scribbled down with a simultaneous effortlessness and unrefined stimulation I am afraid that like a snow flake, While I continue to explore you my love You will but melt away in my palm