Sorry! Zine’s April Writing Contest Second Place Winner

A poem by Valentina Nikolova.

She walks to the edge where the sea meets the sky,
The wind tugs at her hair, cold against her face,
A quiet reminder of things she can’t forget.
Her eyes are heavy, like they’ve carried the weight of years,
And though the waves are gentle,
They seem to pull at her feet,
As if the ocean itself is calling her to rest.
The cold water laps against her toes,
Washing away the remnants of a world she no longer knows.
Her body feels tired,
Like she’s been chasing something just out of reach,
Her soul worn thin from years of longing.
The air smells of salt and solitude,
Her breath a sigh that blends with the wind.
She watches the waves roll in and out,
Their rhythm steady,
A sharp contrast to the storm inside her.
She closes her eyes for a moment,
Wishing she could shrink to something small,
Something invisible,
So the world wouldn’t seem so wide and so empty.
She wonders if she was ever truly happy when she was little,
Or if it’s just the way the past has softened,
A time when everything felt warmer,
Brighter, even —
Yellows and oranges and browns,
A world alive with color and hope.
But now, her memories are fractured,
Faded fragments of a time that once felt whole,
And the weight of it all presses against her chest,
Like a tide that won’t recede.
She can’t remember if the sky was always that blue,
Or if the sun was always so close,
But in the stillness of the sea,

She feels it slipping away —
The pieces of herself she thought she knew.
The sea whispers,
But she’s too tired to listen anymore.