I grab the other sponges they were killing -
Ripped from their underwater home
Left dying, drying out over long slow hours -
And dive into blessed cool waters;
At last we can breathe.
Ocean fills our lungs: salt and
The ancestry of millennia.
Moving from shallow waters into depths,
Our hardened scales slowly soften
Enabling expansion into tender new skin.
We absorb peace and uncertainty -
A briny duo steeped in enlightened realism;
This is the gift of the sea:
Nought but presence and the wisdom
Of what is, right now.
Sharks, angel rays, rainbow fish, flexing mussels,
We witness the beauty of them all,
Gratitude swelling our chests
The further we swim into the bounding main:
We collect love with each heartbeat.
We take what we need
And are given so much more;
Some of my spongy friends remain
Here in the deep or shallow blue:
They have found their home.
But I return to land,
Re-grow the legs I thought I'd lost,
Share the sagacity of Davy Jones' locker
So that other desiccating souls know:
They can choose to live and dive.
