Your first love is a handful of sand
Feels warm and relaxing when its supposed to be there
But stays long after its welcome has expired
Slipping past your fingers and toes
Leaving a grainy residue as it falls
Keeping a ghost of what was.
Every failure is a smooth sandy shore
Sand shows up in your bed Sand shows up in your clothes Sand shows up in your hair for
Days
Weeks
Months
After you visit the beach.
There are always new grains always new reminders
The sand makes you manic.
It was fine at first but now it’s intolerable and you’ve already washed your sheets but you still feel the rough little pieces every time you shift
What was once a sanctuary is tainted with rules and deadlines and
So
Much
Sand.
Maybe you went swimming that day
Maybe the sticky saltwater sand stuck to your feet and you thought once it dries it would leave
It stuck to your shoes
And your legs
And sucked to clean up
But maybe this huge mess was a reminder
To just be more careful
Around sand.