The shoreline was never against them
it just answered to the moon
The sea erased their steps
not out of spite
but because water moves
They thought the horizon tightened
because they were breaking
But it was only the weather
constellations drift
not to confuse us
but because everything
is in motion
No one sets out
to bruise a heart
we bruise
when we are tired
when we are afraid
when something outside us
pulls harder than we know how to name
the water changes temperature
with the year we are remembering
warm where we felt safe
cold where we did not understand
but even the cold
is not cruelty
it is distance
it is pressure
it is unlearned language
we all want to be well
we all want to touch
without breaking
we all want to leave
footprints that last
the sea keeps moving
not to harm
not to punish
just following forces
larger than feeling
and we are like that
soft
resilient
trying, always,
to do no harm
even when we
don’t yet know
how.