My dolphin sister says,
That to master the water
I must be part of the water
But I’m not sure I’m built for this
I, the Strange changeling child
of my dolphin mother
I have wings for fins
And legs for a tail.
A beak-like snout
Only a mother could love
I try to swim with my sisters
And I am left behind
The runt of the litter and
number one prey for sharks
I’ve always known
That one day, a shark will appear
And I will be too slow, too heavy
To escape it’s grasping jaws
But this knowledge doesn’t erase
The terror that arrives
With a dangerous smile and
A taste for blood
I take flight in the water,
I have never swam faster in my life.
And I probably never will again.
I swim upwards like going up for air.
As giant white teeth
begin to close around me.
We both break the surface of the water.
He jumps, and I jump higher
And I just keep swimming
My heart pounding fast as my wings
I look down,
and I see the ocean’s dark depths
Beneath me.
I look up to see a wide expanse of sky
Unexplored, and undiscovered.
My wings are unencumbered,
By the heaviness of water.
My soul is unencumbered
By the heaviness of failure.
And I flap my wings,
And keep swimming in air.
I just keep swimming.
Read another poem by Ravanjie here.
Check out some of her other works here.
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