Depth Over Distance

Inhale.

Exhale.

Distance. They say adventure is the heart of life; without it, we cease to grow. We run as far as the eye can see, go wide in search of things unknown and battles yet to be won. We leave land and set sail, circumnavigate and make names for ourselves.

Henceforth, you shall be conquistador of the Seven Seas and I the tamer of the lion that is the Ocean. We are pirates on a mission, one that is as unending as the raptures of the deep.

Depth. I have dreams of floating through the canals of Venizia, of diving the walls of the Ras Mohammed, of free falling blindly into Dean’s Blue Hole. And yet I find myself anchored to your shore, watching you sleep, tracing the lines of the body that is you, my darling body of water. Between the crest and the trough of the beat of your breathing you sing me a lullaby and rock me to stillness. Between the ripples of our sheets I find the strength to keep swimming, but to go deeper and grow deeper this time, deep roots enough to stand tall until I am a tree in the middle of your Pacific, or find the peace to keep free falling, whether into love or life - I no longer know the difference.

Perspective. Tears are but drops in the ocean. We are but two people in the universe.

Life/Love. Yours is an ocean that invites, not to go wide in search of the unknown nor of battles to be won, but to swim downwards and out of one’s self. A deep blue ocean that swallows shallow red fear. ‘Depth over distance’ I cry, with every breath or lack thereof, with every meter closer to the bottom, every foot further from the surface. Heavy, your very existence reminds me of the lightness that is air, and I am no longer afraid. You tell me to hush, for the trembling is not the start of dying but the tremendous force that is the will to live, or love. (I no longer know the difference, but in you they are the same.)

Inhale. “Darling, you are a body of water to me.” You can devour islands whole and caress a sailboat to safe harbor. In you I find depth and distance, but if you ask me to stay and grow roots in your ocean, I will.