Seaside

Mia Freeman

Dear God I see you in the setting sun and see myself in these blue currents below darkening to purple as the minutes pass and think of my parents—

Waikiki Beach, take me home

and take everything else, too.

Make my mother weep.

Leaving the water with scrapes and bruises from rocky shores

is a warm and ethereal pleasure

Sparkling blue waves submerge me and overwhelm my innocent smile,

But the flesh is nothing!

Waikiki, grab my heart.

Endearing roll of the tongue on all your sweet words

Motel by the sea, with a little shower filled with wet sand

Soft head of hair resting on my legs, is that seaweed from the tides?

Please carry me, with glitter on your foamy surface, all white and glistening

Currents rushing towards the shore, where my family digs their feet in the sand

I will love you for as long as I am 20.

Mia Freeman is a senior at Rutgers University- New Brunswick. She was born and raised in Virginia. Her writing is usually inspired by childhood between human and animal. Her favorite poet is Hart Crane, and she still believes in ghosts, nostalgia, religion, and blurring the line.