You run across the ocean’s edge
The wind is in your hair and you taste the salt in the air.

The waters are calm today, smooth as a silken cloth
The vast ocean stretches ahead of you, an exquisite quilt of blue.
Between the white foam, azure waves and scarlet skies,
The mind finds solace
Waves crash at your feet and ripples into the golden sand,
You reflect, and weave a bond to the unknown.
The spray is in the air as sky embraces the sun kissed waters
And each high strand and crashing cadence washes over the melancholy
Caressing waves upon the shore
Embolden, placate, and remedy the soul.
The ocean is your healer.

He casts his net upon the raging waters
His livelihood, his money, his food
All are carried upon the blue
The frayed strings come back- desolate and empty
Up in the air he hurls
Into the endless abyss
Silvery, shiny and smooth he catches
With scales that glitter in the sun
There will be food on the table tonight, he smiles.
The oceans are his livelihood.

She glides into the waters and dips her brown arms in,
Marked with the ‘malu’ tattoos that symbolize her ancestry
A patterned skirt drapes around her legs
Intricate patterns that tell untold stories
For her the ocean isn’t a resource,
Nor recreational
It is not just for food, or work
It is divine
It is everything
It is home.

These aren’t just waters
They are more than that
Not just to me, or you, For
In this supposing solitary moment
Millions join you in solidarity.
Despite disparities and differences
The blue ties us together
It is ours
In the ripples I splash in glee
Someone surfs upon in another land
The foam that tickles my feet
Someone casts their nets upon.
Where one dives
Another scavenges for shells.

If we share in all the beauty
If we share in all its blessings
The its misery is also
Ours.
For if we share its glory-
We must also join to share in its pain.
We must stop,
Heading towards a world where these waters are no longer what they are
To expect someone else to mend after us
To let our tomorrow worry to save the waves.
The infinite waves are our responsibility.
For this blue,
Is ours.

 

-Adyesha Singhdeo