Cilla Libertine -- District 4 -- CBD [1]

"Weakness is just a word," say the kings and queens of the stars.

Stare down at us, they do.

They craft us with nimble fingers, tying fragile sand together with strands of seaweed that are only bound to break.

They push us from the back, letting us take delicate steps towards the shore.

The waves, they swallow us; the waves swallow us whole.

They crack our youth against the rocks, and they drag our innocence across porcelain shells.

We are nothing but foolish children, lingering beside a daunting sea that beckons to us.

We burn, we break, and we scream.

Some drown; some of us drown like mermaids with crippled fins.

Some, however, rise; rise like phoenixes from the ash, we do.

For when you are burned, whilst standing alongside the daunting sea, what else can you do?

You rise.