My face is a shelf of sand
As tide comes back in
Forming small little rivers of salt water
Down my cheeks,
Just a clue to what is coming.
Slowly, but surely,
The tears will come.
And when they come,
There is no avoiding them.
They will destroy the emotionless wall
I built around me.
Those tears will destroy my strong façade
Like the tide will destroy the perfect sand castle.
Once the wall is down,
Nothing will hold back my tears.
You won't be able to tell that.
This.
Girl.
Never.
Cried.
I will be a rush of water.
I will heave laboring breaths between sobs.
These drastic, desperate breaths
Will crash against my lungs
Like unpredictable, dangerous waves
On a rocky shore
During a frightening storm.
But I won't be able to hold on to these breaths,
Because I will be drowning in my sorrow
And my ocean of tears
Will have filled my lungs.
My body will move to the rhythm
Of waves on a shore when tide is in,
Back and forth,
Back and forth.
The sand shelf of my face,
Once dry,
Now drenched in saltwater.
But the tide will go out again,
My breathing will become more even
And sand castles will be reconstructed,
My wall will be rebuilt
And it will be as if
This.
Girl.
Never.
Cried.