Drifting
by Terrance Boult
I am alone, in the midst of a school. My breath is all I hear.
I reach out with a friendly hand; they retreat out of fear.
Little cliques within the school, flashing their colors for all to see.
I wish I could be closer to them. I wish they would accept me.
Relentless currents push ever on, bringing me to a different place.
Excited though I am inside, I drift at a relaxing pace
watching for islands of activity in the larger sea of life.
Some schools seam so full of joy, others filled with strife.
A few groupers stand just left of me. A pair of jacks off on the right.
I spy a French angle dead ahead. She 's such a pretty sight.
I make a friendly gesture. She doesn't seem to mind.
I causally advance toward her. I'm starting to unwind!
Briskly does she turn away; my friendship foray fails.
Sadly, I surrender her, skulking amid a school of yellow-tails.
One breath and they reject me too, swiftly scattering all around,
but bathing in the boundless beauty, becalms and bids me to rebound.
A solitary urchin sits shivering by fifteen fans a fluttering.
As crimson colored walls sing softly amid deep blues tones a thundering,
two trumpets tilt tentatively while sixty glass slippers swoosh as one
I recharge in the deafening silence, drifting in Cozumel's coral cathedral fun.