Mother Ocean
A free-verse poem in response to GiaB prompt 2–4: the beach
Anticipation knots me together tighter and tighter
until I unravel on the East Coast.
Dots of sparkling stickers rim my vision
Tension; bikinis and insecurities chase the smoke into my lungs and trace the curves of my shape.
Escape myself in bitter expressions of the Pacific. A friendly greeting is the fluid crescent of upturned lips gathering me like a swaddled infant and pressing at the seal of my mouth with salted fingers, trying to taste my tongue.
The heaviness compresses me too small Too small — like phytoplankton — and I can hear the prying of the Orca’s song.
I see one last moment to break free of her
a bottle-nose offering to return me: I choose where I belong.
I journey back to the panting earth and I lay supine on the chapped shore lengthening my limbs under a sun who’s grayed with neglect.
And I sink my outline
ever-so-slightly
into the sand.
~Written by Chloe P. Hawes (Copyright © 2021)
Mother Ocean was written as a product of the second prompt in Genius in a Bottle’s (“GiaB”) second series of prompts, and, as the poem’s subtitle suggests, the current theme is on The Beach. I strongly suggest writers give the challenge a try. You can enter a piece of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction — whichever you prefer! Plus, you can enter more than one story to the same challenge, but do make sure you submit your piece to Genius in a Bottle for consideration. GiaB is a very respectful and refreshingly unique publication, to say the least, and I believe it’s to nearly every writer’s benefit to submit and work with the GiaB community.
Anyway, as I tend to remark in my GiaB end-notes, I — certainly along with every other GiaB community member — am genuinely interested in reading other writers’ distinct contributions to a singular thematic challenge. That said, ten writers I’d particularly like to invite to submit a piece to GiaB’s instant prompt, include: Filza Chaudhry, K. Barrett, David Rudder, Michele Thomas, Penofgold, Carla Cherry, Hollie Petit, Ph.D., Elegantly Eleanore - a place for poetry & musings, Svetlana Smith, and Bob Metivier.
Certain loose rules apply for entrance to the challenge, and you can read everything you need to know in the following link (or by clicking the linked phrase, “the challenge”)! Written by Victor Sarkin, a brilliant editor at GiaB, you’ll enjoy his prose and find the challenge details toward the end of the piece.
Thank you, Genius in a Bottle. My deepest gratitude goes to anyone and everyone who takes the time to read this piece. One last thing — thank you, Carolyn Hastings, for being so encouraging toward me (and other writers). You are a blessing, truly, and your words have genuinely helped my writing process in so so so many ways! Read Carolyn Hastings’s submission to GiaB’s last prompted challenge, First Crush, by clicking below!
