Rippling sun-warmed waves to dip our feet into,
Letting the ocean coax us in a toe at a time.
Throwing playful splashes between bubbles of laughter,
We kit up for the journey ahead.
Beyond our rippling fingertips lay everything in shades of blue-green crystal.
A window into another world,
Except through this mirror’s surface we could pass.
Gulping a mouthful of salty air one last time,
Before diving through the gentle waves –

Emerging into an azure world where time trickled slower,
Arms outstretched like wings we flew through the water.
Sand clouding behind our flight path like a slow motion dusty fog-
Shoals of fish in colours I didn’t know exist race us across the seabed,
The shyer creatures peek at us aliens through the lush green weeds.

Reaching the edge of an underwater cliff,
Peeking over the edge and staring down into the dark abyss,
So deep the sunlight’s long hands cannot reach – as dark as space and as terrifying
We’re at the edge of the universe now
And the darting silver fish that follow down below are shooting stars,
Twinkling in and out of our shallow dreams.

Nagging lungs and shouting hearts pull the attention to the surface,
And like rockets we speed upwards – homeward bound back to earth
Breaking through the glassy waves- shattering perfection,
The shards of our splashes still cling to our skin,
We return to the shore, back where we belong,
We were never meant to survive in that world.
Only ever to visit are we permitted.