I stood at the beach one day
And pondered my biggest fear
A silly one though which defeated all
My reasons for living here
How could this be, I thought
It's where I wanted to live the most
In this lazy California town
Along this beautiful coast
This fear was overwhelming to me
It froze my very soul
For I knew as soon as I entered in
A shark would swallow me whole
It would cause me to shake and tremble
It gave me such a fright
Far worse than things under the bed
Those monsters in the night
It just doesn't make any sense to me
I'm a very grown up man
And it pains me to say the last time I was here
When the waves rolled in, I ran
I said to myself this is a stupid fear
It's one I must outgrow
Now what could I do to overcome it soon
I really didn't know
But then one day I was sitting around
Looking for things to do
Some others were there doing the same
We all needed something new
Two ladies and I were talking this out
Just a friendly chat with friends
What sport is the best each one of us asked
And we answered, "that all depends!"
One of them said she loved to soar
And found her love in the sky
I could tell by the way it made her smile
One day I would have to try
Now the other had a different story to share
About how she loved the sea
And what she said she liked to do
I didn't think I could be
She mentioned something about leaving the earth
And entering another world
But all I could feel was a knot in my gut
As my greatest fear unfurled
She said it was the greatest joy to her
It made her feel alive
"There's so much beauty and color there
You gotta scuba dive"
Six weeks later I returned to the shore
Without any fear inside
For I took her advice and joined a class
I learned to flow with the tide
To this day I'm grateful still
For those words she shared with me
I've come to learn all life began
Beneath this magnificent sea
John B Caddell 6/15/99