Wet clumpy sand crumbles on my feet,
Sharp rocks bite my toes,
Salty cold water numbs my body.
Then a rough wave hits my back,
Pulling me under for a long split second,
Before I can free myself from its embrace.
Hot sun reflects off the sparkling water,
Blinding me and burning my face as I float
And the calmer waves push me to shore.
I turn my gaze to the sky and notice
A rusty airplane flying across the ocean,
Marking the end of a summer day.
Tatiana Rebecca Shrayer was born in Boston in 2007. She is a freshman at Brookline High School. Her poetry collection, "Searching for Bow and Arrows" (2020), won second prize in the 2019 Stone Soup book contest. Several of her poems and translations from Russian have appeared in literary magazines. She also plays the violin in the New England String Repertory Orchestra. Tatiana lives in Chestnut Hill and South Chatham, Massachusetts, with her parents, older sister, and Stella the silver poodle.
Iryna Tsisaruk is 14 and lives with her parents and younger brother in Kremenets, Ukraine. She likes drawing and painting when she has free time. She enjoys writing poetry, too.
