The Girl by the Sea

I once knew a girl,

Though she knew little of me, 

For she was far too busy 

Glaring at the sea. 

They say that her mother 

Had been lost to the waves, 

Nine months of suffering, 

Of thunder, of rain. 

As she'd watch the sun rise 

And watch the sun fade, 

She'd watch the night kill, 

She'd watch it as she lay 

On the wreckage of the ocean 

And all it laid to waste. 

Though she saw the sea in its peace, 

In its gentle and serene, 

She'd also watch the waves kill, 

She'd watch herself bleed. 

So when her daughter was born, 

And amber eyes met blue, 

She let herself flee, 

Leaving a crying infant in lieu. 

Kelpie-like shrieks 

Ripped my mind from the tale, 

And as the tears dripped down, 

The child's too pale cheeks, 

She tasted salt on her lips. 

As far as the eye can see, 

She did not cry often 

After that day, 

For when she gazed down 

At her father's stormy eyes, 

She only saw her own, 

And the salt in its lies. 

I next saw her grown, 

As years come and go. 

I had let out a sharp cry 

For the girl by the sea, 

Clutching at her ribs 

Like her life come to reap. 

In her sorrow and her grief, 

She had grabbed hold of sharp stone 

And cut down on the reef 

That had harbored her soul, 

Past the blue sheen of her blood 

And the rot in her bones, 

And all her father's rage, 

And sediments and stones. 

Where her heart should be, 

In the trenches of her ribcage, 

There lay pressure and depth, 

But nothing to cherish or save. 

She'd watched the sun rise, 

Then blister, then burn, 

But she let not her eyes 

Stray too far from her yearn 

To question the sea 

Of her damning birth, 

For she said, "Oh bedrock; 

I am made of thee." 

But the sea did not answer, 

Did not notice her plea, 

When passersby looked at her; 

She was in the depth of insanity. 

She'd beg and she'd curse, 

They'd laugh at her profanity. 

"The tragic daughter," they said, 

"What a great travesty! 

How stupid one must be 

To hate such majesty." 

For she was the girl 

Who despised the sea, 

Though the scrutiny soon left 

After the fade of novelty. 

The girl by the sea was left to be. 

That is when I found 

The courage to touch her hand, 

Its skin warm yet coarse 

Like the beach and its sand. 

She looked me in the eye, 

Her voice like a gentle breeze. 

She handed me a mermaid's tear 

And asked a great deal of me: 

"Slash off my face, 

And peel off my sins, 

Dig deep into the algae 

And the scum stuck to my skin. 

Then gouge out my eyes,

So I look nothing like him." 

I was cowardly and she was too young, 

So I ran from the sea's offspring,

But I still wear the sea glass,

On a dull piece of string. 

Though I did come back 

As soon as come night, 

For so often curiosity 

Overrules one's fright. 

But alas, I could not,

Reach her in time,

For she was long lost to the tide 

And the ocean's whim, 

Along with it, her pride 

And the ocean's sins. 

I doubt anyone came 

To look for the girl, 

For no one recounted the tale 

Of the world's most precious pearl. 

Abiha Cheema was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and is currently 16 years of age. She is pursuing her A-levels, with aspirations to study Criminal Psychology, while considering Creative Writing as an alternative degree. Her hobbies include observational astronomy, history, day-dreaming about traveling, reading, and learning about the myths, culture and religious beliefs from around the globe. She has earned certificates for her creative writing, having been an active member of her former High School Magazine Club, and wishes to continue creating and submitting her poems and prose, while hopefully getting better at writing them along the way.

Previous
Previous

The Swear Jar

Next
Next

A Defiant Fool