Come to my shores,
It is a longer walk now.
Breathe and taste the ancient life that is churning inside me,
that you cannot live without.
Listen...
My depths have carried you for so long
Hidden your waste,
Hidden what you would not face.
As my water recedes, these dark, dark secrets come.
Will these revelations then destroy us?
Don’t turn away.
I am your home.
Will it be for you a cleansing or annihilating wind?
You decide.
Listen...
We are in this together.

Note from the poet: I have been repulsed by her smell, charmed by her creatures, thrilled by all the migrations that feast in her waters and on her shores. She is ever changing, while still herself. I know I can’t live well without her.