Ocean of thoughts

[Reflections. Mauritius. June '15]

What have you done to me, o Maurice

What secret heart-string have you played on?

Your blue, so brilliant and beautiful

Ebbing ever so slightly over my fleeting feet.

Seeping in, down deep and in the concourse of shells

Before quickly receding.

The surface, mostly still, occasionally wild

Holds secrets of the wonders underneath.

The body, so stirred and agile

Makes merry with boats dancing to its beats.

I breathe in the fresh hue of the rising sun,

And the glowing embers of the sunset, melting into the ocean.

I sip on the gigantic cool yellow coconuts

Plucked especially for me.

I glee at the mackerel, the calamari and the sea urchin

Resting on my plate, peacefully.

I share thoughts with grandmothers and school kids

On local bus rides, simple and rickety.

Every view a spectacle, every sound a symphony

Every waking emotion, too real

Pure as the sand on the beach, washed every minute.

I’m happy, I’m sad, I ponder

Is everything I am and am doing,

As ephemeral as etching my name on the sand?

Here on this island,

In the midst of swaying palms, emerald and welcoming

Waddling through the white waters, sunkissed.

Languid floating in the boundless saline, adrift.

Touched by the ocean, embraced by the breeze

 I finally found my island of peace.