Surrounded by warm blue water
I soak in a sea rich with beauty
Bound in diamond chains
I float upon the crystalline surface
Buoyed by my belief in my own freedom
Thinking, 'I could fly in a moment, but choose not to'
Forsaking the empty, fearless sky for my ocean of swirling indolence
Feeding on the salty kelp, drinking of the salty water
Absorbing the sunlight into my skin
Around me float my fellow swimmers
Fellow sinners, skinny-dippers
We all are drunk on the glory we find in the waves
Without warning, our lives are ruined
A white-crested storm harbinger crashes down upon us
We sink into the sea, which is not, we now discover, as clear below as it is above
Drowning, we realise
(TOO LATE! too late)
We never swam, we only skimmed the surface
We never flew, but only gazed at the clouds
We wandered along the border, never delving deep for fear of falling in
We never learned to swim.