She came up from the sea— not walking, not swimming,
but as if the tide had let go
of her out of some ancient agreement.
Kelp tangled in her hair; fingers crusted with salt
and eyes full of thunder.
The shore held its breath.
Villagers say she was born in the belly of a storm, that her
scream once cracked the hulls of ships.
But she did not speak.
She listened—to gulls, to the slosh of tide against broken rock,
to the heartbeat of something older than land.
She wore fury like a birthmark, it glittered in her silence.
She left footprints that steamed.
Every night, she returned to the sea, sometimes up to her knees,
sometimes all the way—
just a silhouette, neck arched to the stars, holding conversations
with the moon.
One night, the boy from the dunes approached: “Are you cursed,
or are you the curse?”
She smiled, barely. “I am neither.
I am what the sea made when it had no more patience.”
“Do you feel?” he asked.
She looked past him, to the breakers. “I feel everything. That’s why
I stay only as long as I can.”
Do you think fury forgets? Do you think waves don’t remember what
was taken from them? What was buried beneath them?
She was not cruel.
But love from her was like undertow: deep, sudden, and impossible
to explain until you were already beneath it.
When she vanished, they built stories to fill the space.
Saltborn things always leave.
But the waves remember.
Each crash against the sand— a call, a hymn, a fury not forgotten.
Who are we to think we can hold
back the sea when it comes for what it loves?
Photo credits: Pinterest
Dora hosts at dVerse where she invites us to incorporate dialogue in Poetry. Come join us! 💙
Posted for Poetics: Dialogue it in @dVerse Poets Pub
30 Responses
This is a wonderful narrative, love the images of her, the fury coming out from the sea, I think it takes a lot of courage to talk to her.
Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
This is so amazing, Sanaa. It took me away, this ballad that reads like a timeless paean from the sea’s depths, full of beauty and mystery, and passionate fury.
Thank you so much, Dora 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
(and thank you for the glorious prompt) 🥂
I am
Awash in this. Living now so near the sea as I am, and loving all things salty. That’s a brave boy there. I hope he can rise to that depth
Thank you so much, Eric 😀 so glad the poem and its imagery appealed to you 💄❤️
“She wore fury like a birthmark, it glittered in her silence. ”
Wow! This fury is intense
Much♡love
Thank you so much, Gillena 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Your poem reads like an epic ballad, Sanaa, and I love the entrance of your protagonist, coming up from the sea ‘as if the tide had let go of her out of some ancient agreement’. I also love your description of her as ‘born in the belly of a storm’; wearing ‘fury like a birthmark’ and leaving ‘footprints that steamed’. You introduced the dialogue seamlessly. Another phrase that stood out for me: ‘love from her was like undertow’.
Thank you so much, my dearest Kim 😍 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Haunting, Sanaa, and mystical!
❤️❤️❤️
I just did not want this to stop…..just gorgeous poetry, dialogue alive and philosophical, mysterious moods, and words rolling on the surf in ways only you could use them.
Thank you so much, Ain! That is such high praise. I am glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
A wonderful story poem, Sanaa! The dialogue with the boy tells the mystery of it all. Beautifully written!
Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
A wonderful poem full of mystery.
❤️❤️❤️
That was wonderful, Sanaa! I could completely picture her. Great poem!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Thank you so much, Yvette 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
So wonderful, reading it I felt I was right there. I could feel her power and all the emotion. Beautifully written.
Thank you so much, Di 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
“She wore fury like a birthmark, it glittered in her silence.
She left footprints that steamed. ”
The images in this are outstanding!
Thank you so much, Sara 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
I especially love these parts:
Kelp tangled in her hair; fingers crusted with salt
and eyes full of thunder.
She looked past him, to the breakers. “I feel everything. That’s why
I stay only as long as I can.”
Thank you so much, Melissa 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Wow, just wow! I love the mystery, the narrative and the vivid imagery, Sanaa. 💕💕
Awwww gosh! Thank you so much, Punam 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
superb. i’m running out of superlatives for your work ~
❤️❤️❤️