stdClass Object
(
[ID] => 21996
[post_author] => 23
[post_date] => 2021-10-01 10:38:35
[post_date_gmt] => 2021-10-01 10:38:35
[post_content] =>
I am watching the ocean drown
us in a fit of love. The sand sticks
to the alcove of my knees. There is a mother
dipping her child into the water, laughing.
The child is slipping in the sand,
webbed toes shimmering on a long
silver fin. The mother is crying
from laughing too hard and looks
at her feet. Then she is crying from watching her child swim
away. I am building a castle in the sand only for the ocean
to wash it away apologetically. There
is a weight stringing across my chest,
and I panic until I realize
it’s just the ocean, rising.
My phone sizzles in my pocket
and I hear a politician crying
out for Noah. But why
would he want animals
like us? No, I am ready
to go. I hold my breath
until my hair winds around my neck
like seaweed. The sun weaves silk
into the water, and the fish nuzzle me
instead of swimming away. I breathe.
When my feet fuse together, I swim
to the mother, laughing. Then we watch
her toes disappear too, replaced
with a long, silver fin. She is crying
from having breathed too much
air. The water embraces us.
I watch the mother swim away with her child.
The ocean kisses me in a fit of love.
[post_title] => The Ocean Makes Creatures of Us
[post_excerpt] =>
[post_status] => publish
[comment_status] => closed
[ping_status] => closed
[post_password] =>
[post_name] => the-ocean-makes-creatures-of-us
[to_ping] =>
[pinged] =>
[post_modified] => 2021-10-05 10:09:40
[post_modified_gmt] => 2021-10-05 10:09:40
[post_content_filtered] =>
[post_parent] => 0
[guid] => https://poems.poetrysociety.org.uk/?post_type=poems&p=21996
[menu_order] => 0
[post_type] => poems
[post_mime_type] =>
[comment_count] => 0
[filter] => raw
[meta_data] => stdClass Object
(
[wpcf-published-in] =>
[wpcf-date-published] => 2021
[wpcf-summary-description] => This poem is commended in the Poems to Solve the Climate Crisis Challenge on Young Poets Network in 2021. This challenge was created in partnership with People Need Nature, and set and judged by poet Louisa Adjoa Parker.
[wpcf-rights-information] =>
[wpcf-poem-award] => Commended, Poems to Solve the Climate Crisis Challenge
[wpcf_pr_belongs] =>
)
[poet_data] => stdClass Object
(
[ID] => 22026
[forename] =>
[surname] =>
[title] => Yvanna Vien Tica
[slug] => yvanna-vien-tica
[content] =>
Yvanna is commended in the Poems to Solve the Climate Crisis Challenge on Young Poets Network, created in partnership with People Need Nature and judged by Louisa Adjoa Parker.
)
)
stdClass Object
(
[ID] => 22026
[forename] =>
[surname] =>
[title] => Yvanna Vien Tica
[slug] => yvanna-vien-tica
[content] =>
Yvanna is commended in the Poems to Solve the Climate Crisis Challenge on Young Poets Network, created in partnership with People Need Nature and judged by Louisa Adjoa Parker.
)
I am watching the ocean drown
us in a fit of love. The sand sticks
to the alcove of my knees. There is a mother
dipping her child into the water, laughing.
The child is slipping in the sand,
webbed toes shimmering on a long
silver fin. The mother is crying
from laughing too hard and looks
at her feet. Then she is crying from watching her child swim
away. I am building a castle in the sand only for the ocean
to wash it away apologetically. There
is a weight stringing across my chest,
and I panic until I realize
it’s just the ocean, rising.
My phone sizzles in my pocket
and I hear a politician crying
out for Noah. But why
would he want animals
like us? No, I am ready
to go. I hold my breath
until my hair winds around my neck
like seaweed. The sun weaves silk
into the water, and the fish nuzzle me
instead of swimming away. I breathe.
When my feet fuse together, I swim
to the mother, laughing. Then we watch
her toes disappear too, replaced
with a long, silver fin. She is crying
from having breathed too much
air. The water embraces us.
I watch the mother swim away with her child.
The ocean kisses me in a fit of love.
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