What the Ocean Left in Me
Indore, India
2025, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
The ocean does not scream.
She exhales.
In the gap between waves,
she is telling the truth —
that we are hurting her
slowly, silently
at every plastic promise
and fossil-fueled lie.
I was born close to her lungs,
where mangroves once wrapped around the beach
as a mother does to a child’s hair.
The braids are now on fire.
Now the mother cannot breathe.
I remember collecting shells —
tiny cathedrals of sound,
whispering prayers old salt
into my curious ears.
I now gather headlines.
Dead zones. Coral graves.
Islands swallowed like secrets.
But —
she extends towards us.
Her waves softly kiss the beach
even if we do forget her name.
She still sings.
in fishbone reefs
and the belly of the blue whale
who carry songs older than war.
And so I pen her this:
a lullaby
a vow,
a protest.
I will fight with my pen.
I will speak for the salt.
I shall plant hope like seagrass
in locations drowning in indifference.
Because even today,
the sea leaves pieces of herself in me —
foam in my lungs
light in my chest
a storm in my spine.
She is not gone.
She is waiting.
Reflection
Reflection
Though I didn't live close to the sea, I've always been somehow in its thrall — through books, documentaries, and the subdued tug of its mystery. The sea has always represented something greater than us: life, memory, and the vulnerability of our world. I wrote this poem to speak about that bond, even in distance. "What the Ocean Left in Me" is not so much about the ocean as a physical place, but the emotional and environmental burden it holds. I wanted to talk about how climate change doesn't stay by the coast; its effects reach all of us, everywhere. Even where I am, I can see signs — unpredictable weather, dirty rivers, and rising heat. I understood that the ocean's sorrow was everybody's sorrow, and I wanted the words to show that. In writing my poem, I learned how art can be advocacy — a means of caring, of voicing, and of recalling what's important. This is my attempt at closing the distance and responsibility gap. The ocean is distant from me, yet its well-being is our problem as a whole — and I think we all have it within us in some way.