Cave Fish
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Once I swam, weightless,
In a red-gold sea both vast and small
A sightless cave fish tethered
Light and dark, both were warmth to me.

Once I swam, kicked, spasmed,
A sound like waves, two heartbeats colliding,
And then an inexorable tide pulled me under,
Drew me out, and I began to scream.

Pain.

My tether cut, my memories poured out
I forgot in the fear of being cold and alone
For the first time.

I forgot and breathed and slept and dreamed,
A translucent veined cavernous sky,
Of liquid breath and lost gravity,
Lost every morning as I woke.

Until one day as I opened my eyes
Morning sun washed the walls of my room,
And I lay there curled around a secret cavern
A Capricorn's dream carried in water.

Pain.

A tiny earthquake, and blood poured out,
A long slow agonizing geyser, warm and dark,
A first and last time.

I woke and touched my skin, and cried,
The cave fish is gone.

The sunless sea is empty.

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elizabeth mitchell
may 2002