Cask

Your very first breath is ocean air:
Stiff and brisk and captivating.
Not just life, but promising more,
As if this weren't the only shore.

Recline upon the sleek rock shelf -
A grey expanse, a crescent coast.
Another crescent shields you -
Boarders on the shore.

A small barrel - or maybe a cask
Taking in air; the angels' share.
Sometimes you roll; sometimes you rest.
Maturing, reaching - each time, more:
You'll swim a little further
From the shore.

Round in the middle: a milk-fed calf,
Guarded by love and devotion.
These are your whiskers!
Search with your snout!

Become a sprite of the ocean!
Your barding of blubber will keep out cold.
Your eyesight will feed your inquisitiveness.
Galumphing along, bobbing aside
And settling in,
Your mother beside,

But not for long,
You have to survive.

So learn with your friends in the dints of the beach.
Tumble through currents - shoals you can eat!
Wriggle along, your claws and fin-feet -
Then rise to the ocean's swell.

Gather your warmth - your first winter coat.
Splash through the shallows: frothing mash tuns
With fellow teen seals, inspecting rock pools,
Mounting high seas, following shoals,
Dive dive dive!!!
And catch all the more!

Become your own undertow.
Flow between
Within and without;
The sun and the snow.

There's always a tide before every shore, so
Barding and smoke, let it
Carry you home.

- JESPER909