Into The Ocean Where Darkness Shines

Too often I’ve been content to
Wriggle around on the pond’s grey surface,
Extinguishing in the mud with flailing strokes
The fire of urgency. It died in child-eyes
When it was doubt-dampened
And dimmed by stagnant fate
In a motionless pool.

Anguish was
The slimy deluge of fish tears that
Slipped down face & gullet & numbed my conscience: It was
Rheumy snake eyes of burnished gold & flashing yellow greed that
Spit acid rain on my parade. No longer could I pantomime in
The fickle charade of a wise man.

Three turns at least, or was it seventeen?
On the winding paths of briars & ferns
That bled intelligence into the waiting chasm
Of my darkened mind in purple rivulets.

The majestic roar of the current
Swirled a humid hum in the distance,
Steadily approaching as I limped towards it.

Moss-covered rocks licked their lips.
Consuming the mineral spray,
They eyed my aura.

Red-orange starlight began to relax
Into lemon hues and I sighed.
I dipped my legs into the cool water
That drank deeply of my pain.

Through simplicity I discovered what the minnows knew:
To follow the dark current that whirled both day & night,
That lead to the center of life’s labyrinth.

I will not be satisfied to
Dip my toes into the clear water;
I will dive deep into the luminescent waves,
Until I reach the black light that makes everything shine.
On the glowing coral, through the squid ink, I will read mysterious
Symbols that speak the jeweled procedure in primordial tongue:
How to compress into the essence, the core of all things, &
How to understand the language in which the ocean sings.

By Daniel Pendergraft
7/12/17

@d-pend

Photo credit:

1. "Yellow-Orange Squid in Dark Blue Sea" by Oday Hazeem
2. "Trail Obscured"--- original photo taken 7/11/17 at Holy Cross Waterfall
3. "Waterfall's Absorption"--- original photo taken 7/11/17 at Holy Cross Waterfall