A sea like no other sea.
Theater of the Odyssey,
and of Cleopatra and Anthony.
The sea
of war and of peace.
Cradle of known civilizations,
and jealous keeper of secrets
of civilizations yet unknown.
To me, it is simply
the sea
where I took my first swim,
panicked and sunk like a stone,
pulled down by the wrath of Poseidon,
that eternally angry god of the Greeks,
who, it was said, lived a thousand fathoms below.
But a strong hand quickly snatched me, lifted me up,
and at the surface I saw a reassuring face smiling at me.
My father was standing in chest deep water,
and I heard him saying,
“son, you got to keep your legs and arms moving.”
To me, it is simply
the sea
where I fell in love with the Mediterranean blue,
where I lingered long summer hours at the shore
lazily dreaming,
about people and lands
beyond the faraway infinite line,
that elusive border
separating two magical shades of the azure.