You’re swimming at sea, odysseys away,
Yet my voyage flounders from your riptide.
When you swallow saltwater, that foul spray —
My throat’ll burn with the same iodide.
Some days, my tropical waters turn frigid,
Amazed, I shiver and shake at the cause —
A fair mermaid, besmirching what’s sacred,
Dove straight from her image into sharks’ jaws.
If I feel your every stroke in the surf,
Can you feel my ripples, my vibrations?
When I’m whipped by whirlpools into tough turf,
Struggling at sea, I’m the pain of nations.
Knowing that we are each other’s water
I’ll treat every drop as my own daughter.
