Ryou-Un Maru

You swallowed salty water and it went up your nose

There was a child there once, right in that feeling

Because you spoke too little about too much

Filled with rust and the remains of childhood

Lying just under the water looking up at nothing

Stepping barefoot on a rusty nail or a sea urchin

The ocean will consume everything eventually

A slap on the face in the middle of a cold winter

Gasping for air as they push you back under

The list of things we never managed to discuss

Lying under the water you looked up at me

Your skin was like the thoughts you used to have

Escaping the child who couldn’t imagine

 

Sometimes a ruin is just something you meant to say

The games you thought you played with yourself

You wanted to tell me that being alone has undone you

But we swam in a lake and slipped on slimy stones

I used to be right there in that feeling

Filled with rocks and the remains of youth

Lying on the broken wall looking up at nothing

They pulled out your hair and you were still silent

The abandoned building where we left you because

Time eventually makes everything harder to bear

But no one looked in case you were trying to speak

Your feet were like the stories you didn’t tell

Wrinkled from the water and white like milk