Dreamscape with Fists of Waves

by Tresa Murphy Green

Did you know what it meant to the ocean when you ran from its tide?
When fear exacerbated your motions & the salt waters were too vast to hide

did you know
that the ocean
remembers how it held you?

the blue still dances in reflections of your grace feels the remnants of your embrace
the waves recall the sensation of your arms flailing towards surface
the idea of intimately engaging depth wasn’t your first thought or purpose
the seafoam clung to your footprints as you ran to sand’s ‘safety’

actions that stated plainly
depth was regarded as death
silencing your own vastness

did you know what you invited yourself into?

songs sang by the waves splashed like replenishing kisses to your spirit
nestled themselves sweetly behind your ear requiring you too, to tap into your
abundance
—a mutual cleansing that was too mysterious, too vigorous, too different for you

you never hear stories about how the ocean longs to be held too.

how mortals run to her for blessings
indebted, unaware & negligent
of the space she needs to flow through
just to suck up her essence
then tell her she was too immense for you

as is the ocean
the moon
the seafoam
the waves
the blue
the reflected light
the pull of tides
the night sky guide to you

I am sure the ocean is a black woman
& the moon is too.

Tresa Murphy Green is a multidisciplinary artist and cultural curator, born and raised in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. As an artist, Green makes an intentional step to center the voices, perspectives, and lives of black women and femmes in all forms of their work. As a poet, their intentions are to create a discourse around intimacy for those at the same intersections as themself: black, queer, and feminine. 

[Photo Credit: Tatiana Fanfan-Narcisse]

City of Asylum believes that All Pittsburghers are Poets. With the Poem of the Week series, we seek to increase the readership and appreciation of poetry locally by publishing poems written by residents of Allegheny County of all ages and levels of experience. In partnership with the Poetry Editors at Sampsonia Way Magazine, City of Asylum advances our mission to defend, celebrate, and build on creative freedom of expression. This project received a RADical ImPAct Grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD).