Deep Sea Musings
Out in the open Pacific, the water is
Deep blue from horizon to horizon
Two men climb into a bulky bathyscaphe
And start their slow descent
The brightness at the surface
Gradually fades to utter darkness
Sunlight cannot penetrate here
Three thousand feet down
Only gravity tells them
Which way is up
The blinding lights on their vessel
Shine out into nothingness
The light is swallowed whole
Crushed by the sheer weight
The empty sea bottom
Seems a lifeless desert plane
But they turn off their lights
And sit still
Listening
And watching
There!
A dim flash of blue light
There, then gone
The ghostly glow
Of bio-luminescence
Another flicker, then more
Slowly the dark comes to life
Strange creatures flutter and swirl
Trailing luminary threads
Bulbous bodies bobble about
Round glassy eyes magnifying
Sputtering shapes squirt jets
Of pulsing propulsion
Wavy tentacles wiggle and drift about
Like long, white Chinese noodles
Delicate, thin silver fish disappear
With color-changing camouflage
Gape-jawed predators with razor teeth
Dangle tantalizing glow-bait ahead
New species are marveled at and cataloged
Then it’s time to rise from their dream
