Girl at Sea

I was born in the folding blue waves of the sea,
And I will die on its sand and emerald shores.
The sea is my challenge.
The sea is my respite.
These waves batter me
and they lull me to sleep.
The sea’s salt is poison,
and the only thing that cleanses me.
The sea is my trial.
The sea is my reward.
The fishwater stench is nauseating,
and it is the scent I disguise myself with.
This eternal abyss is purgatory
and it is also a welcome escape.
Being another drop in the ocean is a harrowing thought,
all the while comforting and natural.
The sea is my betrayer, the knife in my back.
The sea is my forgiver, the spring in my step.
It is my horror, and it is my homeland.
It is my death, and it is my paradise.
It is the hell I endure, my purgatory;
And it is my resting place, my proud grave.