I whisper my secrets into the wind
the waves reach their cold fingers towards me
nails scraping the rocks and sand
swallowing all traces of my whispers
nothing but a thin wisp of air from my mouth
The salty waves rock my soul to and fro
shaking loose emotions long tucked away in its hideaway spaces –
the gentle motion soothes me like a babe in its mothers arms
I feel swaddled and safe as the water hushes me with its lullaby
assuaging the cries of anguish within me
I close my eyes and listen to the shushing of the water
waves tumbling over one another in a rush to get to shore
but not one makes it –
they threaten my toes
but what far away looks fierce
close up dissolves
spreading across the sand like an eager lover laying on the bed sheets
The resonance settles in my ears like the breath
where it becomes something we don’t hear
but it is vital to our survival
The undulations no longer are water
but instead become vintage hardcover books sliding from a shelf
cloth bindings rubbing against each other
like a dancing pair pressing against and away from each other
each touch in time with a melody
The wind pushes along the tops of the waves
like a reader rubbing the edge of a well-loved novel
just waiting to turn the page –
or a lover stroking a letter
fingers memorizing the words pressed into the paper
I open my eyes and look to the horizon
as my secrets are carried off into the wind
away to the mountains and trees in the distance –
secrets that are like little dancing pieces of torn paper in the sky
until they reach the horizon where they meet the mountains
the paper sticking to the sky
making shadows on the wall of the world
Secrets becoming mountains –
something that isn’t quite what it appears to be
formidable yet beautiful
never forgotten and forever on the other side of the waves
the waves a guardian
keeping the secrets safe
Amy Yun 