Site: Isla Genovesa, the Great Darwin bay to be specific
seemed like the middle of nowhere in the South Pacific
Sitting on the edge of a dinghy, my heart sinking fast
My guide, calling me in, But I didn’t think I could last
Zipped in a wetsuit with a safety jacket on top and fins
I recalled my pool snorkelling lessons; then all my sins
I slid down into the ocean, holding onto my floating ring
The chill rising up from my feet to my throat, strangling
A deluge of ‘What ifs’ and ‘How coulds’ washed over me
So I plunged my face into water, & they all froze instantly
A big, blue world, albeit a bit blurred,
Unlocked below me, as I demurred …
Life in all astounding shapes and colours filled my eyes
I couldn’t help wonder what the depths held as surprise
A sense of timelessness and fleetingness hit me at once;
seeing them flit about their day with such nonchalance.
Silence infused every inch of space inside and around me;
Slowly dissolving me to be a part of this ethereal entropy
I tilted back to get some more air when someone shouted
‘Sharks over there!’ ‘Oh my god!’ I thought. ‘We’re routed.’
‘It’s the hammerheads. Guys! We are really lucky.’ I heard.
And a knot of dread rolled down my throat with each word
My mind beseeched me to turn back, ‘We’ve seen enough’
My heart pounded hard ‘Why are you making this tough?’
‘Look down, ’ gestured my guide, tugging my ring excitedly
‘Do we really have to?’ I pleaded to deafened ears, meekly
Barely holding back my fears and holding myself to action
I plunged my face again, my adrenaline high in anticipation
There they were! Right below us, a school of hammerheads
with their winged, flattened heads; in fifties, if not hundreds
It looked straight out of a sci-fi movie with an ill-fated climax
that I have to put on mute to slacken the emotional setbacks
‘This is not my home, it’s theirs’, I just couldn’t help thinking.
‘Ah! The audacity we have to invite ourselves over, prancing.’
And then, sting, sting, sting. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! On my arm
A feisty jellyfish stings out of the blue, without much harm
Glad to be alive after this skirmish with a minor aberration
I seek out the dinghy to end my white-knuckling expedition
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