Where the Tide Takes Me

The scent of salt hangs heavy in the air,

sun-warmed sand crunching beneath my feet

as I walk away from you.

At the water’s edge,

I pause—

turning back for one final glance.

The sunset crowns me in gold,

a quiet halo of endings.

You reach out—

but too late.

You call my name,

it breaks against the wind,

fragile…

useless.

I take another step.

Water curls around my calves,

cold and certain—

and still, you cannot reach me.

Not in time.

I let myself fall back

into the waiting sea,

into arms that do not beg,

do not break.

I drift—

further,

further still—

until you are nothing

but a fading shape on the shore.

You collapse,

hands clawing at what’s already gone,

voice cracking with prayers

that no longer belong to me.

But our time—

has ended.

And then—

You wake.

A violent gasp,

the cruel scream of an alarm,

ripping you from the illusion.

All that remains

is the ghost of salt on your tongue,

and the desperate ache

of trying to hold

what was never yours to keep.

I am gone.

Lost to you—

like something the tide

was always meant to take

~S~