She stands where sea and sorrow meet,
Barefoot on windswept, splintered boards,
Her father’s cap held soft and sweet,
A lifeline in her silent cords.

Each evening’s glow, a dying flame,
That once would kindle storms of hope—
Now waning embers whisper his name
Across the vast, unending scope.

Her ribbons fray with every tide,
Blue for sky, and yellow for dreams,
Red for the grief she cannot hide,
All drifting off in moonlit streams.

She breathes the salt, its stinging truth,
That love can leave without goodbye;
Her childhood bleeds into lost youth,
As gulls wheel tears across the sky.

When dawn arrives, the cap remains
A hollow crown of memory.
And she, with hollowed, aching veins,
Walks home alone, adrift at sea.