Having publicity outed myself regarding my dreadful understanding of the word ‘poetry’ I thought that I should avoid the form and write something short that could not possibly be mistaken for a poem.

As usual, though, I had absolutely nothing interesting to say of my own so I stole an idea from Daffni who mentioned the concept of putting one’s head under water. Feeling a bit under siege myself, it sounded like a good idea.

This is what I had to say ….

If you hold your head under water for a while you can visit another world. It doesn’t have to be an ocean – the bath tub will do. But an ocean works best, I think.

It is not silent. Your ears are super sensitive. There seems to be a lot happening down there. You can hear stuff that comes from miles away, maybe from over the horizon. Or maybe from another galaxy. Who knows?

But these are sounds that you haven’t heard before and so you cannot find any meaning in them.
You are not frightened. It is peaceful and it is welcoming, this meaninglessness. You stay as long as you can.

Eventually, though, you have to come back up for air and, when you do, you find the world exactly as you had left it. You understand it perfectly.

So you put your head back in the water.