seabody
when the sea stretches out on long
arm-strands of cloud three-quarters
down the canvas of the sky
we stumble our way down
to the beach sand
scraping/chafing/exfoliating beneath
the arms of my wetsuit
salt clogging my nose
drying out my face
far out west the water cradles
my neoprene exoskeleton
on land i am a creature of occasional discomfort -
but in the ocean i am taken in like air
impact without intent without sensation
i am in abundance
floating in salt born aloft on
the swell to the shore
for bare seconds i exist as a wave
my fins flippers, my throat crowned with gills
there is no end to we & i & you & us
where did the water begin
the origin, the deep, the dark-as-a-lake
— Annabelle Kennedy