ZiYan Chen
I grasp the ocean’s brittle white hairs, the serene loneliness of its shattered tears slicing through
my fingers as the tide recedes
Saline fragments pierce my aching blue lungs, it is beautiful and bloody
Clean, yet briny, I inhaled its alluring nautical fumes which evaporate into salty oblivion
The ocean, she is meager and enticing; quiet, but terribly tempting
Her turquoise tides exude a bitter premonition so terribly daunting
Swiftly, I plunge underwater
Water pricks my body as my fatal skin meets the indefinite depths of her silent labyrinth
A turtle passes me by, donning a sweater
I cannot believe my eyes which are clouded by a brackish water
Entranced by this eccentric creature, I trail closely behind to figure out what it is I want to find
Its shell was not quite emerald, but pungent green
Its smell reeked of ocean; not quite of its beauty, rather a sinister scene
There, I had discovered within the heart of the ocean’s lair; a magnificent marine menagerie
made of glass
But shattered were the animals, donning thick sweaters in their own menagerie of colors
Sickening shades of purple and blue and red which stank of grime
Entangled not in seaweed nor the embrace of the ocean’s vines, but in tentacles of human waste
and crime
Although I had always pined for the sweet saline taste of ocean
The privacy of her plastic reserve had left me with stinging eyes and a sour taste in my mouth
I went home that day feeling blue; not beautifully blue like the ocean, but a bad, bitter blue like
what we did to it
–
ZiYan is 15 years old and a rising Junior. From Fairfield, Connecticut, Zi loves to draw, paint, and write poetry. After having dealt with so much stress this past year, writing poetry has become an outlet for Zi to express identity, feelings, and perspectives. Zi hopes to inspire not only family and peers, but anyone out there that shares similar ideas about this world.
Diamond Gazette 