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Port Aransas (Malaina White - New Iberia, LA)

 

I breathe salt
Since I was little
And drowned beneath her waves
Washed ashore
Like wood
Soaked with seaweed
Water flows
Across my skin
Above my flesh it is always there
Surfacing
Rippling upon touch
Betraying the depths beneath
I breathe salt
Crystalline in my lungs
Like reefs for sharks
I see in the green shadows
Eyes stinging
But I am part fish
And can understand the scales
Jetties like fingers
Digging in sand
Building castles for crabs
And caves for leviathan
I breathe salt
In her tears 
As she shifts in the wind
Unsettled untamed
Unwilling to remain still 
In the dunes
She rose from the depths
Cast her face to the skies
And we climbed
To rest in her warmth
Made a home in the salt
She breathes

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