What’s the story of this place? This valley? This river? This bay?
The story of this place? The story of this place is simple. The men take the women away, and the sea takes the men away.
But how do the men take the women away?
Love. Fists. Knives. Pregnancies. Money. Guns. Words. Love.
How does the sea take the men away?
Very, very easily. Just a little swoop of wind, the leap of a single mischievous wave. It’s like taking a breath. That’s all freedom ever is: the ability to breathe. Try it. Open your lips. Press your tongue down against your back teeth. Close your eyes. Yes, sugar, just like that. Now take a breath. Make it small. Think of a newborn’s lungs, no bigger than a clementine. Now take that breath. You feel it? Of course you do. There’s another man gone by the sea.
And what does the land do through all this?
It cries out for justice.