Work Text:
The sea washed the plastic
back onto the sandy shore.
The sea returned what it could not keep.
Clothes neatly folded, prepared for inevitability.
On the hot sand lay his prized watch,
his office belt rested atop his coat.
He walked into the sea, answering its call.
No one was there to stop him,
the beach to still him.
All day, the water kept its secret.
But by evening, it sent him back.
Gently and with warm apologies.
The sea returned what it could not keep.
It laid him down where his footprints had ended.
His belongings were still there,
his watch waiting to be worn.
The tide smoothed out the sand around him,
erasing the path he took,
leaving behind only him.
A pale girl passed by, twirling her umbrella.
All the colours of the world twirled alongside it.
Her voice, it tinkled and chimed, washed over the shore.
“Oh? Did you change your mind?
Will you not take him?”
The foam said nothing.
The water kept churning,
waves crashing into the shore,
over and over again.
The sea always returned what it could not keep.