Sea-Birth

The sea spits up violently

waves heaving back, shuddering, gasping

a tremulous inhale before a spluttering, crashing

birth on the cold sand.

Bones brittle and broken,

skin scarred with lines of salt

kelp and seaweed tangled in her hair,

eyes like two lighthouses in a storm.

Her mother roars-

and her daughter draws in her first breath of air

choking on it.

***

Ella Taran Altena is an emerging writer from Chicago, attending University of Toronto, studying Creative Writing and Political Science. She has a fascination with the wild, and enjoys bringing elements of otherworldliness into her work, combining them with the mundane elements of daily life.