I remember her waving goodbye the last time I saw her.
we had an awkward kiss and I promised that it would be better the next time
Her name was Ocean.
I’m certain I was the first to ever tell her that she was beautiful
she blushed in the most adorable way
pink rushing into her dimpled cheeks,
she covered her mouth and her eyes swelled with salty tears
as she looked away in embarrassment at the ground beneath her feet
the same way that, later that Summer, she said “shit” after cutting her toe
on a loose nail on the boardwalk while we held hands.
Her eyes were the cerulean color of the Keys
and her locks the color of sand.
I haven’t seen her face for years now.
I learned the other day
from a friend that she’s passed away.
waves of emotion swallowed me
and washed away my ability to hold myself together.
sometimes it takes news like this to remind me
that at the end, even a curse can mean the world.
On The Verge of Tears 