the sea salt grit runs through my gelatin bodice,
     elastic tentacles float around this dominion of mine.
          and you are my treasure –
     treasure hidden in plain sight
and mine to protect.
     i grasped my suckles around you,
          with perfect fit suction
               i held onto you.
                    but it was my own ink
               that blinded me and smudged the truth.
          you are not mine, nor am i yours.
     so with hesitation and grief,
i ride with the monsoon tides.
     to the vastness of the seas
          i offer my only treasure.