A small shoal of bright yellow fish
swim in and out of the red fire coral
looking out for predators
they ignore the strange black shadow above them
and swim to another coral

I watch the fish with interest
from behind my plastic dive mask
as I begin to swim deeper
the coral’s change
to the colours of the rainbow

It seems like a new world
hidden beneath the surface
I feel foreign down here
as I don’t understand the beauty
of my surroundings

A mantra ray swims past
followed by three more
their huge wings
flap slowly and gracefully
as though they were flying

As I turn to go back to the surface
to return to my ageing motor boat
a mud brown octopus
swims up to meet me
and to shake my outstretched hand

What is anger?
a volcano bubbling inside
threatening to explode
the fury of the sun?

What is love?
a field full of corn
a blood red rose
its petals full of peace

So what is this
a man of hate
a man of love
does this mystery
change like the seas
till the end of time?

Does it hide like a frightened child
behind the rocks
far below the seas
waiting to be found?

The sailing boat pitches
in the violent sea
it rocks from side to side
a crying baby in its mother’s arms

The heavy boom swings
like an old clock pendulum
the thick ropes creak
the sail cleats strain

The mast snaps in half
like a dry twig
it falls into the sea
leaving only a jagged stump

The wind stops howling
the violent sea calms
the boat stops rocking
asleep in its mother’s arms

I see the young lover boy
creeping through the trees
ignoring his friend’s calls
Romeo is his name

He sees the lady Juliet
her young bright face
as pale as the moon
suggests marriage and love

I hide in the oak church pews
spying on the scene
of Romeo and Juliet
it made me feel rather green

I follow Romeo in the dark
a quiet ghost in the depths
he sees the lady Juliet
and he like a child
weeps out loud
his tears form rivers in his cheek

Now they both lie dead
neither can be woke
the stars joined them together
the white and the yolk

Sitting upright in the mud
the proud ship waits
silent as a tree
waiting for a lonely diver

I swim towards it slowly
disturbing shoals of fish
looking for survivors

Then the white faces
come and go again
hidden in the depths
like unsolved mysteries

Diving faces
pale as death
their transparent bodies
show the pain

I leave the ship
leaving the bodies in peace
their lives may have gone now
their souls live on forever

A man stands on a cliff edge
listening to the sea
calm as the wind
which gently blows

He stands like a statue
thinking about the past
his mind is open
I slip inside his head

I find a storm unseen and powerful
a whirlpool forms
of many thoughts
mixing to form one
confusion rules

I see a puzzle
its pieces scattered
incomplete
like a forgotten mystery

I close my eyes
and leave the man’s head
the mind storm calms
the man is at peace

An old man sits
by a roaring fire
roaring with greed
with destruction

A boy comes in to see him
the man looks away
he sends the boy home
noting the tears in his eyes
the rejection

The old man looks out
he sees the boy leave
he settles back again
waiting for the time

The clock chimes
the old man shakes
looking back over
a long happy life
then it ends