Last Summer

Catalina Videla

Last summer, I walked miles of cold wet sand

on the empty beaches of the Oregon Coast

adoring the lull and heave of huge waves,

rising to meet with falling rain,

then crashing into bursts of lacy white on the shoreline,

embroidered in ocean trimming:

long ropes of kelp and jewel-colored jellyfish.

Cold wind saturated in salt

and sea scents buffered my face

until my eyes watered.

How fast the astonishing clouds

sailed by,

fleets of flashing moods.

One minute, wind and rain;

the next, bright adoring

sun, glinting silvery off the sea surface.

I have been aching

to break from the same small sadness

every day,

to remember how swiftly the weather changes

amid the white noise of waves and the piercing cries of gulls

in a place where human voices

are whipped away in the wind.

Catalina Videla is studying Creative Writing at the University of Washington. When she is not absorbed in a book or writing stories and poetry, she enjoys spending time outdoors and finding inspiration in nature. She enjoys writing from her personal experience, inspiring others to write, and using poetry and prose to learn about herself and the world.