Beware of Fools, Poems and the Ocean/This Poem part 2 – Ode to Jack and Ishmael

o   Nearly 70% of African American children and nearly 60% of Hispanic children have low or no swim ability, compared to 40% of Caucasians, putting them at risk for drowning.

o   Approximately 10 people drown every day in the U.S.

o   The amount of water in the human body ranges from 50-75%

o   The ocean covers 71 % of the Earth's surface and contains 97 % of the planet's water, yet more than 95 % of the underwater world remains unexplored.

 

What is true of oceans is true, of course, of this poem

Vast, terrifying, salty,

This poem will not quench your thirst but this poem will get you wet

Play at the edges of this poem

Tickle the surf

Dip in the words and spaces, splash the foamy surface of this poem

 

Do not turn your back on this poem

It will catch you unaware

Knock you on your feet and drag you into the heart of this poem

Let the tides carry you far from shore

Drift out past your breaking point where the water hardly moves

There in the glassy middle of this poem you can relax

Float with the rhythm of this poem

Let your body crest and fall, crest and fall

 

Look up at the sky count the stars

Face turned away from the murky depths of this poem

It is easier that way

Do not think about what lies beneath, what lives inside this poem

Feel it brush against you

Cold, sharp, alive

This poem is pulling you under

Do not resist

This is the moment

This poem opens itself to you

 

If you have the courage

Dive deep into this poem

Hold your breath and keep your eyes wide open

The truth of this poem will sting

Keep looking, dive deeper

 

 

 

 

This poem will show you what has been lost, submerged,

Drowned inside this poem

Infants and memory, tossed overboard

Possessions and madness, discarded

You will see vanity and injustice

Swimming side by side

Teeth bared, empty bellied, hungry

 

You are in too deep now

The pressure of this poem

will confuse you, disorient you and make you loose your way

Rise slowly out of this poem

You have stayed too long,

In the water and in this blessed poem

Swim fast, if you can, back to shore

Unless you are a child or a fool

You’ll drown, dear. You’ll drown.