The water striped electric blue
we hold our breath
and jump.
Below the wind-flicked swells,
navy, teal, lit with turquoise,
we sink
into the smooth still, punctuated only
by the crisp fizz
of a thousand coral shrimp,
we drift
half-dreaming, between
mustard spines and violet fronds,
silver needle fish, yellow-tailed snapper,
the slow collective arch
of a school of darker jacks.
Then,
they rise,
wings dappled tawny-black
beating languid cadence,
spotted eagle rays undulating
across the sea floor.
We follow
in wonder,
awkward observers
of their curious kingdom.
