Student Publishing Program ::

Joe Xu

The Caribbean Waters

I walk along the water’s edge,
clear as the finest crystals,
as its waves undulate softly
upon the sleek, sugar-white sand,
engulfing the golden, royal castles.

Every wave wakes up the dead
and washes up a spacious surge
of seashells and starfish and mussels,
which lie dormant beneath our feet,
abandoned within the vast sugar dunes.

The turquoise waters reflect
against my caramel-tanned skin,
while the palm trees shield me
from the blistering arrows of light,
unburdening me from my pains.

The endless, replenished ocean shelters
the spirited rainforest of the sea,
the dynamic coral reefs,
and a millennium of fish,
striped, spotted, and scaled.

I come to the vacant beach at night,
picking up a seashell,
buried in the drumming high tide,
and enjoy the eternal echoing
of the harmonious ocean sounds.

The rosy sunset floods over the sea
and escorts evening onto the solitary shore,
where a multitude of turtles struggle back,
newly born and revitalized,
into the midnight Caribbean waters.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2012 EDITION]