the first time she finds herself      among brown strands
between fear and wonder      floating      in this other world      of
upside down      a place a person could wed herself to      so much
dank silence      beyond her breath      the gentle murmur of
limbs      in suspension      their arc and splay      there’s no
peace like this in the dry country      she’s like a body in a jar at
the lab      but keeps her Dutch colours      sliding her mind
through slender lengths of weed      fabric-like      plastic-like
part translucent      part shine      like nothing else but kelp      her
restless hair goes on its own pulsing journey      she forgets
for blissed moments      she can’t breathe      here this isn’t air
waves nudge overhead      it’s like any place almost visited
say a city      say Seville      and she talks half-seriously      half
what-if      of how she might live here      the kelp wafts in
welcome      displays its tentacles      as she refuses neoprene
longs for kelp’s beckon      and touch      longs to pass as a local
a strange fish for sure      but one who could belong