The Sea Awaits

Waters of Enlightenment (rename)

In a palace decorated for the old monarchy,

I'm in service of her majesty,

The most regal Queen regency.

"Stay," She says,

"bathe in my tubs of gold,

And a beautiful life will unfold."

The promise she makes,

It is a promise bound to break.

For years she cared for me,

And although it brings me to tears,

There is nothing left for me here,

The water runs west,

It is time to find other seas to soak in.

I escape to where the palace and water meet,

Standing at the edge of a shoreless ocean,

Sandstone coulombs tower hundreds of feet,

Surrounding narrow channels of the salty, emerald sea,

The current drags me beneath,

Too powerful to swim alone,

A surfboard manifests underneath,

A valuable tool bestowed on me,

Paddling to a place unknown.

Through the canyon, I go,

Fiery orange arches above,

Clashing with the emerald water, below

No telling what's ahead,

Forgotten what was behind,

Jumping in completely blind.

Out to the open sea,

Deep blue beneath me,

A group of girls float,

Surfboards beneath their seat,

Competition in their eyes

Hungry for a prize.

In a line up waiting patiently,

Surfing in the name of glory,

Winning is of no interest to me,

I'm only here to experience the sea.

Underneath us is an ominous shadow,

Outlining our greatest fear,

The danger is near,

This figure is not coral nor kelp,

So far, from land,

So far, from help,

We wait for fate to seal,

A giant shark looking for a meal.

Crimson red the water turns,

Girls pulled under and then to the surface return,

For safety, the injured yearn.

Unprejudiced, he attacks,

We are completely trapped

No place to hide,

No place to run,

Anyone can succumb.

Wave on the horizon,

A savior arrives,

Nervous; I have never ridden a swell this size,

The question is, will I survive?

Paddling with all my might,

Popping up,

Dropping down,

To keep my balance is a fight,

As lip curls overhead,

I find my footing and begin to shred.

Through the barrel glide,

For an eternal moment, I ride,

At the end of the tunneling is the sun,

Round and round the spiral spun,

Bluewater reflecting the solar rays,

Rings of fire light the world ablaze.

A new perspective unlocked,

My inner peace was unblocked,

Right then, I decide,

My fate is my own, no matter where I reside.

A moment of gratitude to the powers that be,

For manifesting difficulties that come to me.

Arriving at shore, another test,

But this one is different from the rest,

A creature put into my hands,

A dolphin calf born on land.

Instant love I have for my child,

Her spirit, like mine, is inquisitive and wild.

Gave her tubs of gold,

Promised her glory to behold,

A life fit for a throne,

I promised her she would never be alone.

Even though she loved me,

She longed for the sea,

And looks to the emerald water east,

Fear fills my heart,

If anything happens to her, I'll be torn apart.

Making demands would be self-serving

Only my ego I would be preserving.

Her fate is her own,

This is something that I've known.

Although I have been more than giving,

I know life in captivity is not worth living.

Like in the past, I must let her go,

As the Queen did for me long ago,

Past the bluewater, she makes her escape,

For us both, another adventure awaits.

Over the water, the sun sets brilliantly

I make my peace,

This world I am about to leave,

My time here is now just memory,

I take with me a crucial key,

My fate is my own discovery,

And she, like me, belongs to the sea.