my careless contagion

Beguiled by the distant glow in the sky, I stepped into your warm waters. You beckoned me, and I felt compelled. Emboldened by your gentle waves, I forgot all else. I felt you envelop me with your love. Swimming away from the solidity of the shore, I embraced the waves. They pulled me out further.  Caught in your undertow, I panicked  at first, then became one with your sea.  Closing my eyes and feeling you surround me is calming, as I feel your gentle eyes on me, your arms wrap around, your kisses sweet on my neck. Pulled out deeper, the waves become calmer. I rise and fall with them, like I belong here. Shore birds and pelicans glide above on the breeze. I am alone, but I feel you with me.  I imagine you so often, it's like you're here with me sometimes. The thing I want the most is laying next to you, holding you, feeling your ribs rise and fall with your breath. The quiet, the peace, the unraveling. And I long to feel your gentle lips on mine, your hands soft and...

The day was hot, hotter than usual. My mind was running so fast for so long, time got away from me. I found myself driving away from everything and straight to your beckoning shores. Lucky to find a space, I parked, pausing to catch my breath, my heart beating fast with anticipation. Quickly, I walked to the sandy shore. Some were sunbathing. Kids laughed in the water. A mother closely watched her toddler in the shallow water. Finding a bare spot on the sand, I emptied my pockets, wrapped everything in my shirt, laying it by my shoes.  I desperately want to see you, feel you, jump into you like the waters spreading before me. Without thinking, I ran into the surf, a childlike smile spreading across my face, until my knees couldn't clear the surface. Diving in, I felt the full embrace of your waters, tasted the salinity of your warm waves, and darted back to the surface where I opened my eyes wide at the big, blue sky. I was in you, and all the way.  Sometimes I ache for you, w...

You, me, and the sea. I feel you there at the shore, like you are waves lapping at the sand, sometimes quietly, other times more insistent. There is a power in you, drawing me back, making me stay, causing me to sit and stare out over you. Imagining you. Conjuring you. Your colors are emeralds and blues of various hues, and a depth that recedes into the darkest water. I like to meet you in the newness of morning. When I walk up to your edge, your warm waters welcome, then dare me to step in further. I comply until I am in over my head and you are salty on my lips, dripping off my eyelashes and running down my face. Submerged in you, I smile at the sky.  I met you in the year that was my worst, yet you made it worthwhile. There was a golden quality to you, like the sparkle in a child's eyes undimmed by the world. It was like looking at the sun. I had to close my eyes. Life intrudes, but I was drawn back to your shore. The air is different with you. The sky is bigger. The light brigh...