Colors Of The Sea

Short poem

Standing on the golden shore at dawn,
taking in the pastel painted sky;
through white foam coated waves, my mind is drawn,
to where a red-tailed fish goes zipping by.

A gray shark giving chase seems quite a beast.
Green grasses dance the currents of its wake.
And turquoise turtles look up from their feast
while toward a reef, that swift fish, makes its break.

That rainbow mound of corals, sponge and chance,
where pinks and purples mingle with the rest;
a haven in that deepest blue expanse,
where life can quickly end for those at rest.

I see a zebra seahorse blending in.
It's eyes catch a beige blowfish puff berserk
as green eyes of an eel burst from its den;
and thwarted, it shrinks back to its dark lurk.  

A clownfish with its orange white display
joins family for their good daily fun.
That crowd explodes and they all dart away
as silver barracudas make their run.

And down among the bones of the sea bed,
one rock seems out of place as colors shift
from brown to yellow, orange, green, and red.
It disappears in ink, it's parting gift.

Now with the reef behind, Im looking straight
ahead at that big blue unbroken void;
and Feeling like a tiny piece of bait
I venture out so I might be enjoyed.

Clear jellies seem electric, but don't sting
from distances where I would choose my course,
but red does fade to pink while frenzied teeth
tear into nearby meals with so much force

I swim up past the schools that cut and weave
like flocks of black that cruise blue skies back home
and as my beating heart begs me to leave,
I find the air beneath that clouded dome.

Author's Note

Please let me know what you think.

Reviews

[William Michael Reeves]

I had to listen to the Radiohead song 'Weird Fishes' after reading this poem. That was fun. Weird that every time I read you it relates to something I'm writing. Weird Fishes in the brain!

[Ted Kniffen]

Wonderful depiction of sea life. It's amazing that there are all those colours below a plane of grey. A good write.

[mattavelli]

Thank you, Ted! :)

[Lorry]

Superbly captured, in technicolour, capturing the essence of being amongst the nature we learn and see so little of. All that is missing from this colour fest is the sound of the waves that is almost imagined by the reader, such is the quality of the words written.

[mattavelli]

Thank you, Nemo! :)
I shortened this one a few days ago. It ran on a bit.

[Lorry]

Ah, we all do that some times. My record is a 45 verse piece about a serial killer. Was done in a nine page format in a way that wouldn't work well on here, plus the fact it's too long to type never mind read :)

[mattavelli]

Haha, ya, best to just print that one out, keep it for kindling your winter fires and recite it form memory. Here, brevity seems the goal.

[Lorry]

Yep, thank you twiiter :)

[mattavelli]

I haven't tried twitter, but i hear it gives you followers. I'd like followers. They'd love me and care. Haha
This is the only Internet communing that I enjoy. It's all creativity.

[Lorry]

Yep. I gave up on the lot of them when F***book brought in that change that tracks your history and connections years ago. Didn't like the sound of it then, now look where we are...We aren't that far away from if you get mugged, you'll need new eyes and a finger transplant just to prove who you are :)

[Willard Wells]

The imagery of this piece brings to mind the words of Steinbeck which I enjoyed reading and then spending time in Salinas and Monterey and look for and at the sites and scenes described.

You paint a beautiful picture before the dive into the abyss of the darkness of the sea.

A fine piece of writing my friend. Something to be extra proud of.

[mattavelli]

Thank you, Willard. :)

[Bo Lanier]

wow! nicely written. nature sure has all the colors of the rainbow!

[Gaurav Bhattacharya]

Amazing! You've painted an awe-inspiring scene here! You're an artist Matt and I'm looking forward to reading more like this. :)

[mattavelli]

I think this is my longest. The rest are easy. Thanks for reading, Gaurav.

[Bhumika Devkota]

This is a really great poem with amazing writing skills and creativeness and imagery. Great job!

[mattavelli]

Thank you, Bhumika. :)

[GPR]

Such beautiful imagery! A great poem, my friend!

[mattavelli]

Thank you, GPR.

[GPR]

You're welcome :D

[Gee]

Lovely,v descriptive,bounced along nicely with a good flow.Sweet write Matt

[mattavelli]

Thanks, Gee.

[Marie]

I think this is beautiful, with great imagry. But zi also think shorter would have been better. All that you have to say would have been more pointed without so many words, lovely as they are.

[mattavelli]

Thanks for the feedback, Marie. :)