Sea (NaPoWriMo 23)

Licking,
Lapping gently at your clammy skin
Spreading my salty perfume
Onto your dry body.
I am but a sea,
Yet my mother is an ocean.
I am unharnessed
Uncaptured
Free.
I live with no standards or rules
Yet I reign with a sovereign hand of iron.
No mortal can tame my soul
I crumble every rope to take me in.
I take, take, take more
More land with each passing sunset.
My heart of coral
And brain of sand
Take what is available.
Call me greedy: go ahead.
But I am a source
Of life that so matters to you
That you could never give me up.
Yet try you do
Each time, never managing
To seize my unearthly throne.
What am I?
I am your life
Future
Fate
Relentless friend
Gentle hand
Waving chum
Salty freedom
Lapping love.
I am what creates
Yet destroys.
What sinks
And what floats.
Many have braved
My demanding waters and breakers
While each follows a different path.
I am the sea.