They say
“Whatever
doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
and I wonder if this
and I wonder if this
is what
the ocean whispered to the mountain
Judas;
betraying it with a kiss
before
reducing her to shoreline.
I'm
compelled
to inform you
that there
IS a difference between
"triumph
over adversity" and EROSION.
I wonder
what shape I would be
had I not
been broken
into so
many smaller fragments;
stain
glass shattered into kaleidoscope ashes
washed
upon the shore of what was once mighty mountain.
They say
the
essence
of
personal strength is forgiveness in the lessons,
but how do
you absolve as many repeated transgressions
as the
Ocean?
Erosion.
We gave
you welcome shore you brought us conquistadors.
We gave
you bloom and cherry blossom
You turned
around & drown with tsunamis,
EROSION.
We gave
you sugar cane, rum & cohibas.
You gave
us liver failure, cancer & diabetes.
EROSION.
Trans-Atlantic
slave trade
THEY SAY
you gave
way ...
swallowing
millions of beautiful beaming stars
into the
ocean.
EROSION.
and I'm
supposin'
that you want me to celebrate all of this suffrage
that you want me to celebrate all of this suffrage
all this
trial
just
because it's surpassed with survival, right?
Want me
to fight your war & wear my battle scars
then thank YOU for the Purple Heart, right?
then thank YOU for the Purple Heart, right?
Want me
to be THANKFUL for my past
cuz it makes me who I am...
but don't dare ask
cuz it makes me who I am...
but don't dare ask
if I
could have ever been MORE than aftermath, right?
Want me
to look into shattered mirrors
and see shards of where I'm from
with absolutely no use of my native tongue
and see shards of where I'm from
with absolutely no use of my native tongue
only
that it falls upon my ears melodic ...
diluted
by the ocean
But you
call it "exotic"
and I'm
supposed to say "thank you."
RIGHT?
I imagine
my grandmother crossing the ocean.
Migration
from her motherland& I suppose that
the only
possible reason one has to leave themselves ...
is if the
journey to somewhere else promises someone better.
THEY SAY
change only comes when the effort
of staying
the same
is greater
than the pain of change ...
but I could just as soon let go of this erosion all the same.
Like stars
stolen from the sky
Anchored
to the ocean floor, once mighty mountain side
conquered
by the tide
gazing up longingly
at fish that fly,
... they say that the star fishes
are just
trying to grant the ocean forgiveness.
“I wonder if the ocean is even sorry?”
By: Corinna Delgado