Under the water she voids.

She does not contain

further.

the next, but every effort slowed by the thick

waves.

The watercolors of her heart surfaced, and she

was left to draw borders of self-reliance. With
skin twisted into prunes, she floateddisplaced.

Slow and thickjust like her deliberation.

In the opaque waves, she felt actualized,

somehow rising from the empty below. It had to
be either this way or that. She must make a
decisionit was urgent she make a decision.
Consequence and choice begin to flood her,
evenly warming her skin against the cool, crisp
sea.

She swallows once more and raises an arm to

meet the sun. She takes in the air, then pauses.
She decided.

Breath becomes buoyancy as she rises and falls

between what must be done and what should
never have to be. A pebble lump of courage
is swallowed in her throat, dissolving in her
stomach, relishing in the waves.
Her hair kisses and fights with other floating
pieces of sea life, saying their hellos and forced
goodbyes. Every strand trying to give voice to

design

by jeremy zimmet t

&

photo

//

wiche
cindy belko