When I was ten years old
my aunt gave me a big white shell.
She told me to hold it up to my ear
so I could hear the ocean in it.

The air above me is so vast.
The ground I lie on is so vast.
I am the seam where they meet—

the whole globe pushing
sand into my back,
the whole atmosphere pushing
air into my lungs.

I went to the beach today.
The air was velvet on my skin.
Damp sand broke apart in my fingers.
I could hear the ocean in it.

-Alissa