Mediterranean Blue

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.