How to float
A sonnet about showing an alien the ocean
I know your kind has hovered here before -
A pilot filmed you tricking twixt two blues.
But did you smell it? Taste it? Spot its hues?
Let currents drag your craft across its floor?
//
Remove your lens, your shell, your garb. Explore:
The foamed remains of waves, with salt diffuse.
The tumbled rocks and glass, smoothed by abuse.
Cold shock of entry: we depart the shore.
//
Splutter! Fear, the ocean's climb and roar, take
courage, gulp air topside, mill your limbs, note
the pull of drifting eddies in your wake.
And when you're ready, one more step, devote
your core to weightlessness, your soul to make
the final lift. Water-held, now we float.
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Comments (7)
Whoaaaa this was extremely beautiful! I loved it so much!
Oh my goodness this was glorious ❤️
Beautiful poem as always Suze!
Wonderful Suze! Expertly done, I love the imagery here
Beautiful! Love the structure and the language. I also love the choice to teach our alien friend how to float and not necessarily swim. Really great imagery!
Absolutely brilliant. I love the gorgeous descriptions-- "foamed remains of waves" ... I love the use of verbs at the line break, focusing not just on what the ocean is like, but what it's like to interact with it for the first time .... I love how it begins with hovering and ends with floating, capturing with such subtlety the difference between observing and engaging. Love!!
Beautifully written and such a wonderful choice to show an alien! Loved this and loved the form choice, the rhyme flowed so well, I could almost hear the waves lapping! Brilliant! 🤍🤍🤍