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.