Ocean’s Child

Words by Flynn Rodger (he/they) 

It’s the early morning and we’re alone in the world.

Nothing but quiet roads and an overcast have woken up

Warm brine and cold water, it takes first our feet

And then our hands

A dance incomplete, skin covered in sand

The heat of your body seeps into my chest

Ocean’s child, eyes dark like the deep

Brown and green on the water, the swaying of the sea

The tide pulls at your legs,

Anchors you with its breadth

You lie on your back,

It holds you to the sky.

All water blackened hair and chill bitten skin;

Soft marks on your cheekbones;

Refracted sunlight caught in your eyes.

It’s a cold morning in May and we’re alone in the world

Nothing but watching you slip through the shallows around me

Let me fall in love

With the winter water

The taste of salt, something ancient and undying

With a child of sea and storm

I kiss the unknown.