Substance

Inspiration: The Hector Dive by Telmo and Miel

Take me with you,
Dolphin, let me
Clasp tightly
Onto your jagged fin
Breath through your gills
Fashion myself a tail

Child,
Stay away
You live on land
You are a
Foreign substance
In the water

Dolphin,
I don’t like my world.
Your world has
Smooth sand
That doesn’t burn my feet when I walk on it
Salty water that cools me
As I sink into the fibers
Of the ocean
-I belong here

Child, look-
See that wall?
I belong on this side,
Sleekly diving
Snapping fish
Zooming so that the waters part
Before me.
On the other side,
You have soft grasses
That tickle the soles of your feet
Cool breezes
The smooth texture of ice cream
Whenever you want it.
You have the world.

Dolphin, please
Just one ride
I’m sure I was born here
I can breathe below water,
you know.
Child,
Fine,
Just one ride
Just so you can feel the sun filtering through the surface
Like I do.
Just once.

Dolphin,
Dolphin
I have blended with you
The sqauking of seagulls muffled and
Indistinct
My tail
Or is it yours?
Beats hard at the water
Restraining it
Propelling us
Faster still
The sun had found me
It tattoos a sunburn
On my bare skin
The waters knit together
We are deeper
And I am hidden
From the sun.

Child
I am growing weary
I will take you back now.

Dolphin?
You cannot take us back.
We are one.

The Commuting Book Paint n’ Pen Creative Writing Programme is a collaboration between Christchurch City Libraries, The School For Young Writers, Watch This Space, Evans Taylor Digital and supported by Christchurch City Council’s Enliven Places Projects Fund and Publica