Listen to Debussy's nocturne titled "Sirens". Write a short piece while you are still under its spell.
When life gets to be
too much, and the sounds of the city overwhelm me, I return to the waves. I
live in the city, and my entire life is here, but my body craves the salty air
and caress of the sand on my skin once the exhaustion sets in from the mundanity
of daily routine. My passion for the sea was inherited from my mother, who
escapes to the beach every chance she gets in the summer. When I was only three
months old, my mother brought me to the beach in Montauk, holding me close to
her chest in a light blanket to keep me cool and protected from the blazing
sun. This was the first of many more family vacations to the sea, a brief
abandonment of the life we shared in the city. Although I could not form
memories, the solitary experience of the sea seeped into my small, undeveloped
infant bones, forever changing my very being.
Despite my love for
the sea, I dislike boating because of my sea-sickness, the bane of my
existence. Instead, I prefer to float in the sea, absorb the water like a
sponge, swim, and merely dip my toes. Just this is enough to satisfy my longing
for the sea. It’s the experience of being near the sea and touching the water
that truly lights my soul afire and washes away the worries on my mind. The
sounds of the sea - the repetitive crashing of the waves, the cries of the
seagulls, and the crunch of seashells beneath my feet - calm my mind and quell
the fears that I carried with me from the city to the coast. When I stand at
the shore, I recognize the darkness that the sea holds. It has the deceptive
ability to call us in, tempting us with calmness, but threatening us with
drowning in its depth.
On my father’s side,
I descend from the hills of Sicily, an island inundated by three seas that give
it fertile farmland, fresh seafood, and a blend of Mediterranean cultures.
Sicily is characterized by its otherworldly beaches that have warm, turquoise-blue
water and white sands. When I visit my family, my first request is to drive to
the beach, where I sit and take in the natural beauty that surrounds me. It
just exists, and that is enough for it to be beautiful. I am rebirthed after a
visit to the Sicilian coast, where I spend hours swimming and letting the rough
sand smooth my sunburned skin like sea glass. After a day in the sea, I emerge
from the water with a new perspective on life, like Venus brought forth from
the sea foam and waves.
Lexi
No comments:
Post a Comment