A Fish Filled with Sea

I crumble into a weighless drift, A wish lost against your currents, Naturally blending forms and sounds, So brief, so transparent, I fill with the slow outstretching ocean, An embrace of waves—all heights Leaping, trembling under a burn of sun, Each ripple a reflection of sea-spurred Yonder worlds above, indefinite. Shaping this shimmering shell, this fish, Holding tight as an echo counts, Proof of my fears. I rise like laughter And weave a net worth creating, The consciousness washing through ancient paths, A drive driving deeper.

• Ted Hughes