ode to being fourteen

a free-verse poem i wrote commemorating the day i had my first kiss

I still think of your face when I see the sea.

I remember the day clearly:

Standing on the groyne, with 

Salt saturated wind washing over us, 

Flooding our senses until all I could see and feel 

Was the tumbling mass of ocean and 

The sharp, cool abyss that waited beneath our feet. 

The surrounding cacophony of gulls and talk of strangers was 

Muted, with the tumultuous roar of the water 

Insulating and protecting us, leaving you and I

Irrevocably alone in this moment.

The sky was a painted magenta and cobalt canvas, 

Dotted with faint stars that mirrored the 

Freckles on your cheeks. 

An overwhelming surge of affection crashes into me

And I take your hand.

You turn to me, your young face 

Usually filled with suave assurance now

Uncertain, doubting. Tender. 

I’m going back to mine, you tell me, 

A lingering promise of what is to come tingling 

On your lips. You want to come with me?

I don’t remember my thought process, but 

I remember the jittery nerves that always spiked when 

Our gazes aligned, now jolting erratically! 

I remember the thoughts of a Happy Ever After with 

The boy who I adored with the innocent, 

Unadulterated excitement that accompanies youth

And no longer occupies any corner of my mind.

But mostly I remember the sea, strong and steady and

Desperate to lull me in. 

I could succumb to it, 

Take one step and be submmersed 

In a swirl of black and blue. 

Or I could lace my fingers with your own

And experience firsts. 

Back then I chose a path of romance, 

But now I always choose the sea.

Author's Note

This poem focuses on the moment an hour or two before I actually had my first kiss. My friend at the time lived in a town near the sea, and we had decided to go down together and watch the sea. And i dont know, the boy himself was bland, and the kiss was sloppy, but whenever im back in that town again i always think of that elemental moment. So this is about the ocean, obviously, but also about the raging emotions i felt at that time bubbling just beneath the surface! Enjoy :)

Reviews

[Lyrically Inclined]

Nice write. I love that the first kiss itself wasn’t so great but the memory is invoked every time you’re in that town, and it reminds you of a special feeling!

[sinNsincerity]

"Salt saturated wind washing over us[.]" I love they way you wrote this Sadbh.
It sounds so good to say.