Teen Ink

I slam my tender palms
against the glass,
sucking in my cheeks,
my eyes protruding.
This creature
meets me face to face –
as an equal.
Every minimal shift
is intriguing;
it is engulfing
every part of my body
’til I feel my flesh soften
into morsels of rainbow scales.
My surroundings
are sopping
in saltwater,
the same kind that burned
my eyes at the beach.
But I froze to marble,
as a man
with deep creases
spreading on his face
asked me to stop leaning against
the glass;
I would envy
that exotic gift in the glass
more than any Man.