Roots and Tides

I remember the first time I stood by the ocean not as a child but as a young woman

when I understood the way water calls

to bone

Ancestors moving within me

a song in my chest

tangled in salt air

drawn into the pulse of waves 

like they’d waited centuries for my return

the Atlantic stretched

endless and ancient

its voice low, layered with secrets 

whispering in a language I knew

but had never spoken

whispers of Africa, the cradle

stories carried on black waves and

sunlit crests

carved deep by hands that built

that wept, that prayed

each wave a breath

a heartbeat, a history 

under my feet sand shifts 

as if walking on old souls

those who crossed

stayed

or became one with water 

because sometimes the sea was kinder than chains

under a sky, the moon hung like a witness

its pull steady, ancient as earth

Its gravity tugged at the tides, at my blood

the very marrow of my being

each wave that crashed reminded me of hands

hands of women who carried life across continents

who fought the waves, who knew the sea

who passed down their love of its depths to me

I was no longer standing alone 

but linked to every woman who had stood by the water

who had felt its hunger, its promise

this ocean spoke of survival

of love that does not drown, but lifts

holds and pulls toward shore

so I return again and again

drawn to the edge of the ocean’s depths,

by my ancestors’ dreams

their journeys folded in waves

their stories…my stories

forever entwined with salt and tide

 Shani-Angela Hervey is a poet and lover of words. Her writing journey began in childhood with the gift of a diary, where she first learned the intimacy of language and reflection. Her work explores identity, memory, and inheritance, often blending personal narrative with broader social commentary. A member of the Wintergreen Women Writers Collective, her work can be found in the Ohio Anthology of River Roots (2025), Grandma’s Secrets (2025), and Darling Nikki: an anthology dedicated to the memory of Nikki Giovanni (2026). She lives in Daytona Beach, Florida where she is completing her debut poetry manuscript.