There at the bottom of the sea

poem by Ruth Salles

Rudolf Steiner Waldorf School student drawing

There at the bottom of the sea
there are unparalleled beauties.
I wish I could go there to dive!
There are eternal mountains,
abysses, caves
that the waves don't want to show.

The sun's rays dip,
go down a little in the waters,
where there are dark manta rays
to flap its wings,
where there are flying fish
jumping in the shallow waves.

Who dives with more art
where the sun hardly dares
see sunfish, swordfish,
little fish swimming light,
in the most diverse senses,
in colorful shoals.

How beautiful the green of the plants!
How many algae and sargassum!
On the rocks the barnacle is so
that there is barely any space left.
Jellyfish there go round,
its filaments dancing.

But for those who descend, descend
where the sun never comes,
the sea floor appears,
of sand and silt that sinks.
What is born and grows
there where the darkness is deep?

Look at the anemone playing
horseback riding
in a hermit crab,
that hides on the ground,
hiding to one side
in a dropped snail.

Look at a starfish!
There she goes walking.
Where will she end up?
Move your arms slowly
that you can neither see nor feel
that she changes place.

Beside you, look at the pinda!
This ball of thorns
is the sea urchin,
that spins slowly,
stepping with sharp feet
from their pointed skewers.

What a beautiful silver shell!
Lives inside some pet
who comes to take a peek
and hides quietly.
And the thousand-finger sponge?
Seems to point out secrets!

But what lights will these be?
that move so fast?
Is that closed darkness,
where the sun never shines,
lit fish
brighten with their light.

There at the bottom of the sea
there are unparalleled beauties.
I wish I could go there to dive!
There are eternal mountains,
abysses, caves
that the waves don't want to show.

***