Dolphin Dreams

When I arrived at The Bath House I was shown by an attendant into a cubicle where I was cleansed beneath a shower of aromatic spray. After drying off, my skin felt silky soft. When I stepped from the cubicle, I exchanged my large, soft towel for the robe that was waiting for me, a robe of the finest of Eastern fabric. It was then and only then that I was shown into the inner sanctum, the bath house proper.

The pool was large, so large in fact that I couldn't see the other side. I heard voices so I knew I wasn't alone, but they were muffled in the steamy atmosphere. I sat on the edge of the pool and dangled my feet in the water. Swimming in my skin proved to be too inviting so I slipped out of my silken robe and slid effortlessly into the water. After just a stroke or two, I realized I wasn't alone. My companion in the water was a bottle nose dolphin. He pushed against me, commanding in his language that I climb up on his back. Strangely enough, I understood, and with his help I climbed aboard so-to-speak. We took off, skimming through the water at a good clip. I knew there was a limit to the size of the pool but it seemed to have no boundaries. It was then that I remembered a poem I had been struggling with, and the pieces that had escaped me before fell easily into place.

Dolphin Dreams

Slicing through the water like a sharpened knife.
My legs clasped around your smooth and graceful belly,
arms forward of your dorsal fin.
Lovers in these restless waters,
moving together in perfect unison.
We feel the power of the ocean,
I feel the power of you.

I am naked as are you, as nature intended us to be.
You are suited to spend your life
forever swimming these salty seas.
We break the surface in a shower of sunlit jewels
and soar into an arc of perfect symmetry,
Then, like an arrow,
we slice the surface with barely a ripple to mark our passage.
You dive and I'm with you.
You crest and I am there.
We are lovers rising,
aiming for the sun,
but returning as you must to inner space.

We skim the surface,
playful now
as we speed toward the shore,
where you gently lay me down
on a warm and sandy beach.
"Don't go," I cry
as you swiftly swim away.
"I want to stay with you forever,
be your mate, share your aquatic realm.
But, you are gone and I'm left
tethered to the land,
but hoping,
always hoping,
that someday you will return
to take me with you,
to live forever
in your changing,
restless palace of the deep."

Vi
©August 29, 2005