Carbonated Water pt. 1

 
 
What's an ocean to a fish?
Or rather, a whale, or giant squid?
To me, the seven seas and the orifice of the ocean
The miles of water, the pressure,
The rippling scintillating beaches and
The clear waters of many assorted archipelagos,
Are all picturesque
But they are also scary sometimes.
The ocean is, well first things first, we are not water creatures.
I cannot breathe underwater. There is scuba equipment,  
But you always have the option of drowning:
Death by simply being in the wrong place  
Is always a very easily accessible option.
Then of course there are submarines.
 
I have been in one once,  
For my tenth birthday,
Went and saw the coral reefs and the wreckage of sunken WWII planes and ships,
It was a controlled environment on a controlled route and everything went just fine.
I thought it was very pleasant;
It was like I was on a scenic drive in the family car
Gliding through mountains and valleys
This time, through underwater sandscapes
And seeing fish fly through the water
Like flocks of birds.
 
However, I have never been to the ocean.
The beach is not the ocean, it is a beach,  
With tourists and sands
And lifeguards and shopping malls across the main avenue
Docks and boats
Fishermen in the marina. This is not the ocean.  
 
When I was smaller, I suppose I got as far out as I realistically could ever comprehend:
On my little kickboard, small rectangle of flotation,  
My father would take me (and later, with my little sister too)
And haul us out, paddling maybe a thousand feet offshore
Away from the busy beach. The sands fell away from my feet. I could not see the bottom. I was a little scared.  
And eventually we came to our barrier:
 
A small sand barrier and an accompanying reef,  
A little barge of coral
I would slide off my kickboard
And with my feet enveloped by my special fabric-mesh coral shoes
Tentatively cling and  
Stand atop this tiny slightly submerged isle of safety
And look out across the Pacific
And see the deep blue
I could see ships in the distance occasionally
And I would teeter unsuredly
And I never fell;
 
And it would be time to return to home, to the beach, to the sand,
And I would glance over the rippling
I would wave goodbye to the tiny fish that lived in the reef,
To them, the reef was their world,
But they didn't know what the Ocean was,
They did not see any difference at all
Between the water in front of them
And the water far away
Though it was the same body
Many organs inside it
Would move about,
 
These reefs are probably still there
It has been a long time since I was a small child
Feeling the slightest, gentlest grip  
The water afforded me,
I would wobble back onto my kickboard;
The transition between safety and the depths of water
That dropoff of nothingness
It was so frightening.
 
And a fish
Or octopus
Or shark
Has no trouble at all
Sinking to the bottom
And rising to the surface
And following the contours of the current,
For why would it feel uncomfortable?
 
The air we breathe connects us all
But it does so in a mild, easy way
That is gentle  
And hands off.
The immediacy of the water is the grounding  
For these creatures.
It is the air they breathe, the water they drink, the soil in which they grow their crop;
It is the grounding earth
It is the sky
It is the air and the rain and the thunder
It transmits sound!
Whales can be close to one another
By humming and singing
And in a moment
Miles away
Their friends and family are talking with them
Through this material-----water
 
That is an incredible way of life.  
 
So what if the kelp sways and floats
It is not adhered to anything and yet
Yes it is. It is bound to the sea
They all are. They are all sharing in this symphony of light  
And temperature
And current and tone
Of isles of salt
And depths, so much deepness,  
All at the surface
Invisible and yet interconnected...
 
A whale does not know the Ocean, for it is the Ocean's child. It has never not known the Ocean, but it does so in a way that does not think of the Ocean.
I have touched the Ocean. I've seen it from a distance
I've drank it
But I will never know it
I will never know it the same way even a river crab does
Or a freshwater alligator
Who will probably never even enter saltwater areas
But they are still within the Ocean.
 
And it is here the air does something different.