dream a dream (swimming)

^{And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells}

~

is it life . . .

being underwater

how
does a man
breathe

perhaps
he doesn’t
and perhaps
he isn’t

but
it feels as though
he is

suspended
above the ocean floor

moving arms
and legs
to propel himself –
to swim –
raising eddies of brown
and glint
from the sand
as he moves

fish
are loud creatures

there is sound
when they
swim

they can be heard
eating

chewing morsels

crunching coral

worms
in their hollow tubes
hide
in their self-made
depths

anemones tickle
and retreat
tentacularly grasping
small prey

schools swish
in synchronised twists
and turns

this way . . .

that

eluding
the big vibration
that glides past
all open smile
and razored teeth

a man
can swim
in this place

unaware
he is doing so

uncertain
if he is really
here or
dreaming

~