oath

and then
where i stand with my toes curled
digging into the cloth of my sneakers
i am watching until the nectarine glow of headlights melt into the quiet
and again my mouth is filled with the grit and brine of the mud where
you sliced your heels hard on the shells
and my tears became the salt of the bay
as the blood pledged itself to the land

there are too many heavy goodbyes in this heart