The waves opened up before me in blues
so deep, so salty I could taste the pain
of a thousand years of the breathless hues
of death mixed with blood, fire, ice and rain:
In that instant of triumph I nearly
went under, almost left behind my spoils,
my name, my life, my son; I saw clearly
that my dreams paled before the sea’s dark coils:
Then my sense and senses returned to me;
and turning around, I saw myself there –
I was above the earth, as one with sea
and sky – I saw myself with fire for hair:
The smell of salt was so strong in my nose
that I returned to life’s most mortal clothes.