Even as you move
in dark places,
surrounded by icy perils;
even as you search
deep under,
scraping sharp rocks,
darting by jagged jaws
with black eyes – floating in a world
of sunken ships and drowned crew --
keep searching.
Reach out and kick,
extend and bend,
flutter your lithe legs
to slice the murky veil.
Your intrepid frame
is contoured and sculpted
by your steady courage and
steely will to survive.
You weather the slings and
sharp things flying by you,
in your rush to get back
to the surface, back to the light.
You've slipped in and out of
fiery cracks
in the crust of the ocean floor;
the volcanic glow shimmers
in your eyes! You have felt
the hot breath in your chest;
you have lived with the painful
eruptions of injustice,
scorn, and your indignant anger.
You have seen
the scars and tempests of the deep.
You have faced the ugliness and
the vast impurity
of mankind and our volatile time.
And yet you keep your sight
focused high;
you struggle to ascend,
reaching for the light above.
You rise back to the surface,
back to the open sky,
blue and radiant!
You will take in the cooled
aspiration of the renewed future
you will create!
When you emerge, sister,
we will all breathe the pure
air of freedom!