Swallowed By The Tide”

Sydney
Northwestern Middle School
Litchfield County, Connecticut


My bed is an ocean.

I throw my weakened body,
exhausted and heavy,
beneath the capping surface each night
to regain composure for the next day to come. 
The ominous and dark waves crash over me,
leaving me silenced,
sinking deeper under water.
The waves are almost black
as they are encircled in a tunnel of night sky.

As I emerge into the depths of the ocean,
my weary eyelids become heavier
with
each
inch
that
I drift.
I battle my weighted lids
as they begin to encompass
my petite and glassy consorts of collagen.

The warm water becomes a soft cradle,
tangling me within my own thoughts,
eating me alive.

I drift ever so slowly
and
carefully
into the blackened kingdom
of sand and dancing foliage.
Eerie tentacles of seaweed caress my pajama-clad legs.
My hair encircles my idle features
as I remain in a state within myself. 

The once overbearing smell of saltwater and brine
becomes stale and faint.
I toss and turn as I begin to drift deeper
and deeper
into the depths of the ocean.

It is only me in this ocean.
One beating heart,
one empty soul,
drowning my sorrow
within the extent of the sea.

My thoughts become a long lost fragment,
washed away by the high tide.  
My mind becomes a clean slate
for the dawn of tomorrow. 
The awaiting future stands tall before me
as if it is a raging tsunami
with strong and reckless intentions
as I become one with the ocean waves
swallowed by the tide.