The Sea & Me by Stella Warden

Every summer I plead to go to the beach.

I wear my swimsuit fit for my body -although I'd like a new one-

and I pack in the car that we used to not have.

I sing songs and dance in a way I never did before,

and speak with my family looser than I ever imagined. 

But the beach remembers, and it makes itself known in my dreams.

The beach holds everything I've ever lost;

its shores carry my feet down small footsteps to memories I could never now reach,

where the waves ride crashing over my head, through my nose, and sweeping my legs.

I miss being small enough to feel as if my body belongs on the shore,

and not too big for the sea I love so deeply.

Where young souls can slip easily underneath its surface. 

If those waves might ever rise as high

as that time when my body was smaller to compare,

I would savor that belongingness. 

For the sea and me forever, always, will be in my dreams.