I am floating
In the arms of the ocean
Clouds
Drawn abstract white on blue paper
Float languidly
Fluffy like cotton wool
Glued to cardboard for kindergarten
Salt water brings back the present
Salt water diving into my mouth
Salt water drumming against protective walls of wax while
Reggae music jams out the window of some parked car
Rhythm and rhyme and
Little brown boys
Racing horses bareback on the sand
Indulging in freedom and
Black boy joy
Last week
Bake and king fish
Peanut punch and sea moss
Made right before my eyes
Tastebuds preparing to party with soca and calypso
Right here on the beach with
Football and
Laughter and
Friends and waves
Crashing into backs, sides and shores
Memories of times before and that
Long drive round and round and round the dizzying sharp bends
Eyelids fluttering with views from on high of
The bay
The branches of trees outstretched over
Ferns, mudslides and fruit
Sold fresh from the road side
Today
Opens the door to a new world below
Looking out on water, waves, sand and surf
A skyline of hills and trees
I thought of the sea in surface terms
Then the contradictions go on
Over eyes and nose and mouth and
Now I see
Silver translucent fish darting between my legs
Ivory tinted crabs scurrying deeper into the sand
Coral sporting carnival costumes
And a dull plastic bottle next to a silver
Wrapping sparkling too brightly in the sunlight
Tomorrow will be...
Dotted with children playing
Laughing happy with a puppy
Darting on rocks jotting out into the choppy brine
While men...
Skin blackened by sun and genes
Locs burnt brown by daily routines of sun and salt water
Lime
Play dominos and argue with their wives and
Girlfriends outside their brightly hued huts
Their wares of coconut art and bracelets exposed
Their words peppered with accents that sing
Rising and falling
Mirroring the tides the
Sway of palm trees a
Gathering of pebbles where
Water dances with
Breeze
Now
Diamonds sparkle like waves
Touching on a horizon that never ends
Water blue and green like emerald and topaz
Mountainside painted in colors of rainbow
Brush strokes of tiny wooden houses and the
Air gentle and steady
Like a meditation
Soothing my face my arms my soul
As a world in chaos dances to and fro
Echoing life I sit inside a bubble of
Peace