the tide never ebbed
it just came in
and in
and
in
the seventh wave
crashed over
and the eighth
and the ninth
and the tenth
and the whole ocean
followed

flowing in behind

flooding
and
flooding

filling my bones

crashing into
my skin
for an eternity

sand and
coral
driftwood
and depths
the deepest blue
and sunken wrecks
teeming life
the spoils of war

oh such tragic loss

washed up
with
the remains of the dead

flooded

filling my lungs
with brine

with fathoms of salt

my skin
my bones
my flesh
sinking to the bottom
of the sea

until
i
just.

couldn't.

hold.

my.

breath.