Buoyant
Buoyant. Such a cheerful word.
You begin to feel lighter just saying it.
Sunlight, warmth, inviting turquoise water.
Light flickering and dancing on waves beckoning you to join in.
Responding, you dive in and immediately you are enveloped,
Buoyant.
And what is that you feel?
Could it be a distant echo?
A long-buried memory of womb-warm existence?
Floating, kicking, splashing, laughing,
Childlike.
Released to the force of the water your body moving with the currents,
No longer subject to cloying earth, to gravity and atmosphere pushing you down,
Straining your shoulders under responsibility and fears and anxiety.
All that was held on the earth is now released and in the water you are -
Free.
Cares, where have they gone?
They are landlocked and unable to swim.
An exhale of breath.
An infusion of light and warmth from the sun on your face,
Content.
This is life.
Pulsing, moving, and always calling.
Releasing, restoring, and rejuvenating.
Your heart now beating in time with the ocean,
Life.
Smiling and joyful with feet in the sandy bottom and spirit –
buoyant.
Could that lightness be -
hope?
Anyone want to come for a swim?
*I wrote this after a swim, sitting on the beach in Veradero, Cuba in 2019 during our last island vacation before Covid. The picture is of the incredible turquoise water that inspired the piece.