Ocean War

• Eneh Gilbert, Grade 7
• Poetry
• 2011

I couldn’t see properly; my vision was blurred from the harsh wind and the salty spray. The salt from the water had made its way to my mouth; burning my throat and my lips. The sound was deafening, it was cold and it was dark. But I stayed. Something beneath the surface of the water kept me, drawing me in.
I did not need to see the finer details to see what was happening to the ocean.
Massive waves towered over me and the cliff I was standing on; water getting everywhere, soaking me, but still, I stayed. The water was a dark blue; it reminded me of twilight; when the sky was on the verge of night and day, as it swirled around the rocks at the base of the cliffs. As I watched this continuous pattern I began to feel the power of the ocean, the waves, and the water. I watched until the ocean was part of me, until I was part of the ocean…
A low ringing interrupted my thoughts. I swung around as a bright, white light swept over my body, blinding me. I flinched and looked away, just in time to see a large shape emerge from the fog that enveloped the rocks bordering the ocean; a ship. It was a huge passenger ship; thousands of shining lights covering it, but they were not nearly as strong as the one on top of the lighthouse. I began to run across the grassland above the cliffs. It was too late for the ship to turn back now; it was too close to the rocks.
Our town was known for its perilous shores; countless ships had crashed into the rocks, taking hundreds of people to their new home: the bottom of the ocean. But none of the boats were as large as this, and if this ship crashed thousands of people would die. I had to help them; I had to do to something.
As I ran the wind whipped my hair and the lowest branches of the trees ripped my dress, but I did not care. I had something else to do, something more important…