Stephen S. Yeandle - The Reef

Through the divers mask
a window on the floor of the reef,
a kaleidoscope spin a flurry of colors
kinetic tropical burst of diminutive fish
resulting from the strike of an eel,
a spiny crustacean removed.

Then all settles in silence
as motion returns to a waltz.
The green moray
recoils through the hole
in the corral
back to his patient
hushed wait.

The reflex fear of sudden death
seemingly gone for now,
as though it had never occurred.

A Moray lives with impunity,
subsurface hawk
stealthy patrolling the sea.

We know we should stay
away from the reef
it is a feeding ground.

But lured by color
and overwhelming grace
mixed with our savagery
time and again we return...

Stephen S. Yeandle

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-reef/