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

[Kshitij Srivastava]

A vividly descriptive piece, so much so that it felt like I was there 'Standing on the golden shore at dawn'. Enjoyed reading it. :)

[mattavelli]

Thanks for reading, Kshitij. :)

[Mitali Shah]

Wow! Matt grt observation penned with perfect words.

[mattavelli]

Thanks for reading, Mitali. :)

[Mitali Shah]

your welcome dear

[Roland Petrov]

This is so wonderfully descriptive, I felt like I was in the water with you. It reminded me of snorkeling at the West End of Roatan. I snorkeled in really shallow water, seeing so many interesting and colorful things, and then I swam through the coral and the whole colorful world dropped into a black abyss. A wonderful poem that I will tag for my library (where only the best of the best go).

[mattavelli]

Thank you thank you, Roland. :)
You are quite the traveler. Where's your favorite place in the world?

[Roland Petrov]

Now that's a difficult question! Sintra in Portugal is high on the list, and Lisbon is my favorite capital city in Europe and probably my favorite capital city period. The old town of Panama City in Panama is a favorite, and I also am very fond of Sucre in Bolivia, Salta in Argentina, Jalapa in Mexico, Miyajima in Japan, and so on....the list could be endless. For cuisine, I'm most fond of Ethiopia, Japan, and Mexico, but there are many other good ones too. Yes, a really difficult question!

[mattavelli]

Ya, nevermind. Haha

[Rudi J.P. Lejaeghere]

Beautiful, Matt, the world of the sea you're describing. Well done. :) Rudi

[mattavelli]

Thanks for reading, Rudi. :)

[jeannemarie coulter]

with you i took a dive into the deepest most beautiful and dangerous sea...thank you for a wonderful trip...

[mattavelli]

Thanks for reading, Jeannemarie. :)
It was a long one.

[Ruth]

Wonderful energy to this piece..I found myself floating and envisioning the serenity then the consuming immersion, wishing to know familiarity again, something about the ocean, pulls to many and such a place a mystery as life is at times, wonderful!

[mattavelli]

Thanks for reading, Poppy. :)

[Emily]

I really like the first line!
Well done!
Keep it up!

[mattavelli]

Thanks, Emily. :)

[Valentine]

This is well written. I like how you summed it all up in the last grouping. Well done. Valentine

[mattavelli]

Thanks for reading, Valentine. :)

[Confuser]

Mattavelli: It is a glorious poem, I couldn't pull myself away: seeing everything through your eyes, my imagination soared; all the colors, all the creatures, the journey I took with you; found myself surprised at every turn. Such a powerful composition. I love it...I wanted to be there. Bravo! Thank you: Dale

[mattavelli]

Hello, Dale. Thank you so much for the wonderful review. You've really cheered up my morning. -Matt 

[Confuser]

You're welcome Matt! I was so happy too! I knew all the wonderous creatures, well not literally, LOL, but love to watch all the science shows, never snorkeled, but you took me under there. Thank YOU!!!:D

[Jordan]

I almost want to overlook my only problem with it. And it's more of a pet peeve than an actual "problem."

"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."

Something about using the same word, in the case 'rest', to complete a rhyme just takes away from things for me. This, however, was a 15 of 10 before. So with that I'd say it's at least a 14 of 10 now.

Well done, sir. You have both reminded me that I'll never be as amazing at poetry as you, and made me want to watch Finding Nemo.

[mattavelli]

Haha, ya, I'm the same way with the repeated words in rhyme. It's cheating and beyond that, it seems as if the writer doesn't care. I'm guilty of not caring. Haha.. When I did my edit, I thought about changing one to "nest", but left it. I also skipped some syllables and even rhymed "sting" with "teeth". thanks for reading and the feedback.