Stop.
Float.
Ever so slowly shift to the side,
Allowing yourself to drift as you see the world spanning below you.
It is not your world,
Nor really a world at all,
But it is big enough to be one.
Breathe in that water swirling through your lungs and taste the heavy,
Salty odor of kelp.
Feel its fusium as you watch the great mass twist and shift.
As large as any planet,
Notice how the entire thing's bulk is built of thick strands of seaweed,
Each frond twirling and twisting.
A great object,
Immense,
Alive.
And there,
Amongst those fronds,
Watch the little creatures move.
Little,
At least from this distance.
Watch closely as that tiny form,
In truth a shark of unparalleled size,
Darts amongst the huge fronds,
Pursuing some morsel you cannot see from here.
That gray,
Beautiful,
Streamlined body,
Strong and brutally powerful.
And there,
Another,
All hunting.
As the massive orb drifts past,
Feel how the current tugs at you,
Drifting along your skin.
Breathe in again and notice how the smell is changing,
The scent of seaweed replaced by copper and the faintest whiff of sulfur.
Breathe in again and out.
Let that world of sorts leave your view and look up,
Squinting slightly against the light.
See the source of this brightness,
An orb far larger than any sun,
Swirling and smoldering,
Glowing brilliantly against the backdrop of deep water.
One of many,
Yet,
In this infinite ocean,
So rare,
Life-giving light,
A prize to be fought over,
To be defended,
To die for.
As you breathe in once more and out,
Notice how those currents are pushing against you,
Twisting and curling randomly,
Weakly.
They are not natural flow,
But disturbances.
And there,
Near this source,
See both the cause of the turbulence and that bitter smell on the water.
See the blood?
Staining this ocean,
Watch the little swirls dancing about in the light.
There is a great whale at the center,
Singing its battle cry through the cacophony.
Though dwarfed by the star,
It is the largest creature you have seen,
Powerful flukes propelling it into and then from the thicket of war.
Each pass consumes an impressive number of those most maligned of fish.
Draw yourself closer and watch as the smaller forms become clear now,
Sharks and dolphins struggling against one another,
Great whites and orcas biting,
Tearing.
The roiling,
Churning water,
Though smeared with blood,
Still reveals their violence.
Remember that rumor so long ago that these sharks wished for the downfall of a goddess and wonder perhaps if this is the result of such desires.
Watch now as a streamlined blue form,
Then another,
Strikes madly at the heavy bulk of a black and white smooth-skinned foe.
Then,
As one of the orcas compatriots races towards the little melee,
See how it flexes and bends,
Its tail slamming the two sharks with concussive waves.
The pressure must be immense as the two fall off and drift down towards that glowing orb,
Stunned and twitching.
In another instant,
See two dolphins set upon by bitter sharks with ragged teeth,
Their cruel grins impossibly snarled.
Though they strive valiantly,
They quickly fall,
Ripped apart by the burly gray forms.
More blood in the water,
More strife on the current.
Breathe in slowly as you drift closer,
Observing,
Though unaffected.
This is not your fight,
Nor is any fight truly yours.
Breathe in,
Even in the midst of this,
At peace.
Hear now the clamor of their thrashing and the songs of violence as the whales strive for their existence,
Their strength.
Hear the tired sorrow in their notes.
Yet notice also the tones of oppression in the sharks' snarled words,
The yearning for justice,
As they bite and cry,
Hear most of all the confirmation of those rumors.
As you drift,
Feel that anger and rage swirling around you,
A war over forgotten reasons,
Bringing pain without need.
As you inhale,
Notice that cruel scent has infused the water,
Filled it.
Though violence dominates it now,
This will be a place of sorrow soon,
Sorrow and memories.
As more sharks press in,
Notice how they seem to have a slight advantage,
Reaching that huge whale more often,
Tearing at its flanks,
Ripping into its hide.
They are winning,
But it will take quite some time before a victor is crowned.
This morass of violence,
The edges of which are just reaching you,
Feel how intoxicating it is,
How drawn in these creatures are.
Then,
As you take another breath,
Taste how clean it is,
Fresh water from the far distant depths,
More than seeing,
Feel how the water's texture has changed,
And that there is a force in that far-off pulse.
Since how something has shifted the pressure in the currents,
As the cleanliness washes over you,
Tumbling you slightly,
See how the blood and death has been pushed back by the waves,
Though the combatants do not notice.
Breathe again,
As you sit and wait,
With the water about you now clear.
And as a second pulse of fresh water washes over you,
Recognize how pointless what you have witnessed is,
As you glance down,
Catch sight of that writhing,
Ever-distant serpentine form approaching from infinite fathoms below you.
Realize from some distant memory,
That baleen head,
Impossibly large eyes,
Bigger than many worlds,
And in those sleek gray streamlined fins,
Scattered along that impossible body,
Massive,
Eel-like,
Seems to stretch on into infinity.
And as it races up,
Mouth open,
Let the water buffet you back,
Swirling and twisting,
As that huge maw engulfs all.
There is no longer that ball of seaweed,
Nor the harsh war,
With cries of death and prayers of pain,
Even that brilliant light,
Far larger than any sun,
Is gone down that gulping mouth.
There is no more violence,
No more fight,
Only consumed stillness.
The swirling shape twists as it passes you,
And continues for quite some time.
Simply settle from your tumbling and watch,
Breathing slowly until she coils up and faces you.
From this distance,
Impossibly far,
She still seems huge.
But were she to come any closer,
You know that observation would become meaningless,
As she is simply too large to take in,
An almost infinite being,
A bringer of life and death.
She keeps the waters,
And through them,
Life continues.
And as one of those great,
Monstrous eyes meets your gaze,
Her head slowly pivots and twists.
In that gesture,
A simple sorrowful shake of the head,
You know that what you seek is not here.
This has been a goddess of whales,
Of the fatal neutrinos and a blue path meditation.
I told you they'd get a little bit weird.
I hope your day is better,
Or at least more surreal for listening.
This is Easton,
And remember,
I'm as much a work of fiction as anything you hear.
