winter oceans

World of grey sky
horizon right at my feet, right here
not off in some middle distance.

Cold wants to pull me in, foam swirls,
up my pants to ankles, knees
salt heavy, pulling me down.

I see you, buckets and molds around you
piling the wet sand; a fortress, keeping you safe
from the draw of the sea

I do not care. It pulls me,
climbs higher, knees thighs waist
white caps over my head.

Too cold to blink, blood thick and slow,
floating in the silent
not thinking, too cold to think.

Roar of silence fills me,
flesh turned brittle, briny,
hands of the ocean clasping mine