Moon rise on a mystic shore
Waves lapping softly at the shadowed sand
Splashing in the shallows
Laughter floats across the star-strewn bay

They rise from the deep
hoist themselves onto glistening rock or glittering beach
Ungainly and awkward out of the water
Golden girls combing waist deep tresses
Bronze boys talking and laughing
Scintillating tails splash in the brine
Gold and silver, turquoise and ruby
All a glitter in the starlight

One lifts her voice in song
And soon the rest follow
An otherworldly chorale
An ode to ocean cold and sunless deep

One by one they slide beneath the waves
A final flash of jewel bright fins
Graceful then, they glide towards the horizon
A moment’s pause on an endless migration