Credit: National Geographic

washed clean

a deep breath
he exhales the vast ocean
waves crash upon my
shores

he pulls me
out to sea
strings of seaweed
wrap around my thin wrists
i tremble

spiral shells
and ocean stars
i yield to him completely —
a willing, nay, wanting
captive

i float,
swirling in the
tempest of his
everlasting ebb and flow

i release

i am free