​​I remember that summer in Brigantine, 

The water glistening in the brilliant sunlight;

rippling like time itself. One wave, two, then three 

crashing onto the shore. Minutes, hours, days

passed. I was hypnotized by that deep blue. 

I remember the sand pressing into every corner of my life

filling the jean pockets of my Levi cutoffs, 

and leaving my teen mind gritty with optimism. 

I wasn’t myself here but I was everything I wanted to be. 

I remember watching that painted sunset,

wondering how something so beautiful could be

so fleeting.

I remember the girl I was that summer:

carefree like the seagulls in the sky, 

happy like the younger kids down the street;

pleading for the days to never end.

I remember breathing in that salty air until my lungs filled its bony cage,

Knowing I’ve never smelled anything so sweet.

Written by Alyssa Valdivia

Edited by Elisabeth Kay