Hey Siri, Define Thalassophobia by Alani Espinosa

Thalassophobia is the fear of the ocean,
a body of water that breathes in n out life
its lungs dropped onto the ocean floor,
a depth so unmatched
the air above grieves in jealousy,
Why would God craft such beauty out of something sitting empty?

Thalassophobia sends intense shivers
that race up the bristling bones in your spine
till they absorb so much moisture,
they brittle down to your toes
and become an ocean sediment.

Thalassophobia is endangered,
the world’s largest water bottle is overflowing
despite being weighed down by gallons and gallons of plastic.
out of agony,
it threatens to shape chains out of cola cans
and cuff my ankles to the sand,
a punishment for man’s foul crimes.

Thalassophobia is persistent
a reminder that the ocean weeps for a human connection,
it nurtures my childhood fear, relapses my aging nightmares
into a torturing reality,
i am not the only one who is lonely, so it
suffocates my nightly cries with a lone splash of its waves,
traps me still in its tides,
till my tears are scrubbed of their saltiness,
ready to join its stale waters.
one day,
it won’t let me swim back to shore,
and when I drown,
what if no one decides i’m worth sinking for?

Thalassophobia.