Diver

Up here transparent turquoise fish with red stripes,
silver minnows – thousands – brilliant yellows
and greens and showers of gold ashimmer through
meadows of soft, pulsing mauve coral fans
rippling brighter than light. Why dive deeper?
Here the sea is safe, a size to fathom.
Linger. Drift. Look and feel light and full.
Why challenge easy radiance?
                                                 Yes, I will
dive deeper, down to the black zone
of big-mouthed eels, down to the muck and worms,
and dive deeper still, with and against my will,
forcing the burning raptures, to explore
the wreckage of a man-of-war, slave ship
of rotting chains, crow’s nest and brig, nothing
I don’t already know but can’t resist
when, stranded in a sunny land,
I dive down from the depths of my shallows.