Drowned ladybug

by Nicole Soare

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Drowned ladybug,
Floating in the ocean of green
I've never seen such an orange thing. 

Drowned ladybug,
I think you were a fairy in disguise
You smell like mint and not of salt. 

Drowned ladybug,
The clams wait for you to fall into the deep
The jellyfish braided a seaweed crown 
for your funeral
The seagulls sing in your memory;
Bright lady of the sky,
burning shadows in the sun's wrathful face. 

Drowned ladybug,
There are many of your kind on the shore
Sleeping an eternal slumber in between 
the grains of rocky gold
Neighbours of the frying crabs
But with your brittle broken wings of 
translucent labradorite
You seem different than the rest. 

Drowned ladybug,
You look thirsty 
despite the fact that you are dead.
Let me offer you 
some strawberry milk with ice
and I will hope that should suffice. 

Drowned ladybug,
If I were a god, I'd give you 
my sweat to drink, 
mercury to shake you back to life
but I am only a quarter Greek
so I doubt that more salt water 
will do you any good. 

Drowned ladybug,
The music playing on the beach
reminds me of the time I was a kid
and now I feel a thousand years old.
Perhaps I could be a god after all
But I'm not talking about Olympian entities,
about any major forces of nature;
I'm talking about the forgotten ones
the ones lower than minor
the unknown ones
the unnamed ones.
At least maybe I can save you. 

Drowned ladybug,
The daughters of Poseidon 
shall kiss you goodbye
and take you with them
in their kingdom foreign to mortal men.

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Nicole Soare (she/her) is an eccentric fifteen year old Romanian artist who enjoys reading star placements and wearing crystals, hoping that one day she will be able to visit neighbouring dimensions.