Breathless Beneath Blue Silence

There,
if your spacesuit tears,
death awaits.
“Armstrong, when he arrived on the moon,
must have felt the same,
though this is only
a hundred meters.
Still,
I felt a kind of
nirvana,”
said Jacques Mayol.
There,
if your breath falters,
death awaits.
Though he returned
from the deep many times,
in the end,
he chose his final dive.
He chose a place
from which
there is no return.
Nirvana—
a state of release
from suffering.
They say
a restless mind
disrupts the breath.
Even in the depths,
he kept
his mind still.
But in truth,
deep within,
there were waves
rippling all along.
When you dive deep,
not a single bubble,
not a single ripple
can rise.
Whether the world
a hundred meters down
is suffering
or peace—
I wouldn’t know.
Nor can I say
whether the world of death
is suffering,
or peace.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

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Andresen Avatar
May 27, 2025 at 4:22 AM
- Congratulations :) - hugs
Ashida Avatar
May 27, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Thank you so much for your kind words and hugs! I really appreciate your support!
Theraven Avatar
May 24, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Shinsaku, A connection to be made in the depths of this poem. Amazing what holds in the one breathe. -Richard
Ashida Avatar
May 24, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Thank you so much, Richard—your words mean a lot to me. I’m grateful for your thoughtful comment.
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