do you remember when we kissed the Irish coast
with shaking lips, pointed to the waves
crashing against the rocks and imagined
how good we’d look trying to swim
alongside them?
your eyes were the same color
as the sea. I couldn’t tell
which was deeper.
the ground was crumbling
beneath our feet
but we took photos anyway,
just to have something nice to show
everyone back home.
you told me not to be afraid
and I was,
I was.
you held me against the wind
and promised not to let go
but I fell anyway, spiraling
southward towards the rocks until
I woke up face down against your chest,
your hands tangled in my hair
and your breath on my neck
warm enough to pretend
we’d never gone
to the coast
at all.
Caroline Murphy graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington in 2015 and spent the last four years teaching English in western Bulgaria. She currently lives and writes in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Twitter: @tameorchids
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