The Sea Knows My Name
POEMUNITED STATES14
Mateo
7/7/20251 min read
Each summer, I return to the same cliff
and pretend the ocean remembers me.
It repeats itself against the rocks,
again and again,
as though practising my name.
I have changed since last August.
My voice is deeper.
My hands no longer fit
inside my father’s gloves.
Still, the water reaches for my ankles
like an old friend
who does not require an explanation.