susurration

sometimes I even forgot It was there 

reliable like the tide, a ravenous tsunami

they looked at me and constructed a pharmaceutical seawall

whiteoval roundfoil covered tablet pills 

latin roots and biochemistry stole for me 

brief moments of peace 

the seawall jetties crumbled and dissolved 

doomed by rising waters 

for years, I trudged in and out of 

grey industrial brown midcentury modern concrete 

offices: expressions of healthcare

rehearsing over and over and over

galaxies coat my walls as the water rushes in

sharp icy seeping into hardwood floors beneath my back

again, Its story roaring in my ears

red hot pain fingerprints across every year of my life 

who will hear 

mine? I float 

supine in the waters

she dons moss green waders 

and meets me in the waves

Submitted as part of the 2025 Humanities and Healing Event.

By Lucy Tian-Delamerced