Reflection

Reflection

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve felt a special connection to the ocean. Whether it was trudging my tiny feet through the sand in the cool water, or sitting by the beach listening to music and staring at the waves for hours on end, or feeling the currents under my sailboat and the breeze combing through my hair, the ocean has always been a big part of my life. I love the idea of the ocean being such an interconnected force for all the living organisms on the earth, and that no matter who or where we are, we are all connected by the same body of water. This poem was born from sailing voyages, trips to coasts like Hainan and Palau, and weekly bike rides along Guangzhou’s Pearl River — the river that both divides and connects the districts of my city — a reminder that water connects all places and people. I sought to capture the sea’s dual nature: its timeless beauty and the scars of human neglect. Creating this piece deepened my understanding of our shared responsibility to nature, where the same currents that carry my sailboat in Huizhou in Southern China also cradle shells in Sicily in Southern Italy. Our actions, whether harmful or healing, ripple globally. Through poetry, I hope to honor the ocean’s whispers and amplify its plea: We belong to the water, and it to us. Let us sail not as strangers, but as guardians.