Living by the Sea. {poetry}
{source}
Everything she builds
Crumbles in seconds
The shaping and molding she has practiced all day
Is taken by the salty waters that invade her castle
A castle she builds every day
Some days the castle remains
Some days the Sea takes it away entirely
Depending on how she’s feeling, she tries to rebuild her castle
Every single day she wishes her castle could remain
But doing so only seems to grow her fear of what the Sea can do
She would be lying if she said she hasn’t fallen asleep crying in pain
For all the exerted energy and effort it takes to live this way
Some days she’s able to venture off and her castle remains beautiful even
with forces much bigger than herself threatening her home
She stands valiantly with her hands extended
The Sea listens to her
Yet on other days, the Sea comes storming in with mighty power
Roaring, yelling
The Sea consumes her castle and almost takes her away as well
Yet, somehow, she manages to swim, digging her nails on the sand to get back to safety
She wonders why she doesn’t just let the Sea swallow her whole
Is it worth it to live this way?
She ponders some days
Why can’t I grow a shell like the crabs and turtles that live here?
Why must I be so vulnerable to the Sea?
People ask her what is wrong
Why she cries when she is so lucky to live by the Sea
The Sea is quite temperamental, she says, and only folks who live so close to it know how it can behave.
Many moons ago
In an attempt at defending herself from the Sea for good
She desperately started building a moat
She asked neighbors if they had any advice to keep her castle safe
They said,
“Everything the Sea takes, it gives back to you.”
Puzzled, she went back to work on her castle
How could she be benefiting from this experience, she thought
She looked at the grains of sand in between her fingers
As long as she lives by the Sea, she will never run out of sand to build her home
She began to comprehend
Although the Sea may take away with so much force, it always gives back with an equal force
If you aren’t prepared to receive the gifts it gives you, it takes them back anyway
These gifts, however temporary, are gifts nonetheless
And why would someone refuse a gift from nature?
I only see a part of the Sea as it relates to me, she thought
For the world is in constant rotation and the Sea has many tasks to overcome
People disrespect the Sea and yell at the Sea and pollute it
As she came upon this realization, she inhaled the Sea as much as her lungs could take
and exhaled deeply
Her hands full of wet sand
Thank you! she said,
Thank you,
For if you did not exist, my life would be incomplete.
***
Natalie Sanchez Valle is a singer, writer, performer, dancer and UC Berkeley graduate, passionate about creating consciousness and community through the arts. She writes to demystify mental illness, document the narratives of her ancestors, rejoice in authenticity and imagine new realities. To learn more, you can visit her website.
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