somewhere
at the bottom of the ocean
there's a place where
your home country and host country
wash away
their borders
where continents drift apart
where tectonic plates collide
at first
your familiar sky looked so different from underwater
it felt like drowning but you soon learned to breath
like the others swimming around you those creatures
that seemed so strange in the beginning
eventually became your friends
in spite of many storms
you adapted to their oceanic customs
you learned to speak their marine language
l’amour found you under the waves
avec le temps, tes amitiés with these creatures grew
like coral reefs you became
an amphibious creature able to live on land
or under the ever-shifting ocean
Kent Neal is currently a poetry candidate in the Lesley University MFA in Creative Writing program. He has published three collections: The Compass, the Labyrinth, and the Hourglass (in French, ErosOnyx Editions, 2015), Where Saltwater Mixes With Freshwater (in English and French, Red Moon Press, 2017), and A Ray of Light in the Lion's Eye (in French, French Haiku Association, 2021). Originally from Oregon, Kent lives in Lyon, France. More of his work can be found at https://www.kentneal.com