You Cannot Confine the Ocean

Why bottling feelings is a dangerous game

A long time ago I decided

To burn the wishes in my throat 

Turning them into rubble in my stomach 

I built up walls of rock around my soft arms, soft stomach, brittle bones

Crafted iron fortresses of my lungs

Padlocked the cavern of my chest

Tied ropes around my twisting thoughts to prevent them slipping through

What I didn’t realize

Was that the locks were barred from the inside

And I’d long ago thrown away the key

So when the currents rose

And my iron lungs began to fill 

The ash burned my eyes and my throat

My bones sank 

And sand leaked from my eyes

A typhoon ripped apart my insides 

And out of my mouth fell a pearl

The only beautiful thing left

Of a seastorm that drowned the foolish girl

Who tried to bottle the ocean