An Experience

My pain was once ocean. It was
grey in hue. It kept
coming and going.
It hit rocks hard
repeatedly.

Unlike an average ocean, it whirled
at times, as if it danced
around a single fish. After a while

it became dense. It roared
and murmured simultaneously.
It rocked, it sighed. It jerked,
it moaned. Clashing
with cliffs

it multiplied itself
in million droplets.

It dissolved itself in its own matter.
Eventually, it fell
asleep.

I didn't have
a blanket, I covered it
with my swimming towel.

In its dream the ocean talked
to itself.

I couldn't speak the language.
I caught one phrase and put it
in my mouth. It tasted

salty.

I uttered it
many times

before it hit
home.