—for Beverly
So far this morning has been cool and gray
but as she walks backward into the sea,
adjusting her snorkel and mask, sunlight
appears over Haleakala's cone
to show the water all around her blue.
Teardrop butterfly and unicornfish
wait for her, saddle wrasse and leatherback,
yellow tang and spotted puffer. She sinks
into the surf and drifts above antler
coral and long-spined urchins where a green
sea turtle swam beside her yesterday.
The breeze dies down. From where I stand
on black lava outcroppings she is still,
though I know her arms and legs are moving
in the world of reef triggerfish and fire
dartfish. She rises and falls as the waves
seem to pass through her, turning her almost
imperceptibly toward the horizon.
--Floyd Skloot
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