Listen

"If you put the shell up to your ear, you can hear the ocean."

A trickle of blood fell from her eyes,
the water becoming a washed out crimson.
Her parents watched the stream
as it entered the storm drain.
They clutched each others hands,
feeling the fluidity of their flesh:

still moving.

After the funeral they closed the door
to the final resting place of their child.
Before they walked away,
the mother entered the door
and lay down the pieces of the broken shell.

When all had gone and the moon risen,
a wave crashed on the inside of her room.
A salted water rose within the chamber,
creating a tranquil sea around the girl.
But soon the ocean became turbulent
and awakened the girl abed from her eternity of sleep.

She showed nothing but indifference,
her heart was no longer working.
But her spirit was raised out of her body,
no longer bound to it's desolate host.

And then the waves quieted,
leading in a boat of melancholic beauty.
The girl's spirit stepped inside and lowered herself,
lying on her back with arms crossed.
She looked up to see the stars and counted them
as the wooden vessel floated on.

As the sun arose from it's slumber,
the girl's mother arrived at the door.
Inside were the remnants of saltwater
and the shadow of a fully formed shell.