I exist as the raging waves that clash on seawalls

As I wash through people I have loved

And in my waves, I keep parts of them with me

My salt from their tears, bubbles from their laughter

Tides I’ve carried from different seas

— I’ve drowned.

I am the sun with its piercing rays

As it peeks through my window

Though I’ve never seen her eyes,

I know she watches my fingers dance around my hair

She crawls—etches her existence into my skin

— It burns.

I am several storms waiting to brew

I carry thunders in my veins

Praying that I may show the world my intensity

I carve my name into the earth

Immortalizing the existence of my soul

As I make flowers bloom; trees shed

From the cadence of my name

— I’ve destroyed.

The universe exists in me, and I exist as part of it.

I hold in me its secrets, its harshness, its serenity

My body harbors love from a thousand shores and distant lands.

Burdened by its heaviness,

I hold too much to keep in one heart

My love drowns, burns, destroys.

But with it, I have cradled, warmed, and strengthened

I wish to touch every soul

With the waves in my hair

The sun in my palms

The thunder in my voice

To let my existence,

My love, be known.

Written by Stella Arenaje
Illustration by Princess Hervilla