Going Home

I stood at the shore at dawn

and looked at the sea

Tranquilly I watched the waves fooling around
and I listened to their calming sounds

Impulsively I accepted their invitation

Slowly, step by step I walked into the shallow water
I didn’t care that my white skin-tight pants got wet

I just moved on

When the water was up to my knees
I perceived the extent of width
How reassuring the deep-blue appeared to me

I couldn’t go back - I wanted to go further

When the water was up to my hips
I began to unbutton my tight-fitting jeans coat
How smooth the sea was this morning

While I was moving on
I took off the blue mantle
How good it did to feel the water

I dropped my coat on the left
A bit concerned I turned to the coat
I didn’t want to see it sinking

Surprisingly I saw a man in a rowboat
just a few metres behind me

Benevolently the fisherman nodded to me
He would pick up the mantle into his boat
And so I didn’t care about it anymore

I just knew - I wanted to go further

To my left a little red plastic shovel
bobbed up and down on the water
close enough to me to take it

But I wouldn’t need it anymore
I wouldn’t need any tools any more

When my feet lost ground
I began to swim

I’m going home, I smiled

And while the sea was showing me
thousands of tiny stars
I swam freely towards the light of the rising sun

Copyright © 2013 DancingElla

Red Sea, Marianne North, 1880