Waimea Bay, Oahu
It’s raining. Leaning towers of cloud and mist rise from the
gorge behind the beach. From the water’s edge, the ocean floor slants
down sudden and deep. I slide into warm, gentle surf.
I am delighted by a
rainbow, that appears to be anchored half a mile away, to my left, by a rocky
headland. The rainbow curves over the sea, opening a gateway – blue-green to
begin with, brightening as the sun bursts through into the full, vivid
spectrum.
I want to swim
under the rainbow. It looks like a gate to another dimension. I strike out
strongly, beating my legs, towards the rainbow gate. When I raise my chin above
the water to check on my progress, I find the rainbow is steadily receding into
the distance. Everyone knows you can’t ever catch up with a rainbow, right?
But now the sea
turtles come. First a baby, then a whole pod. I swim among them, kicking hard
to keep up. Sea turtles can be fast.
And
We swim together to the place of
the rainbow. Its brightness has gone, yet something of it seems to hang in the
air. I see a beautiful soft blue-green arch above me.
I write sloppy haiku on the beach:
I want to go under
The rainbow’s ocean gate
Sea turtle takes me through
Comment: I plucked this account of dreaming IN the physical body from an old journal just now. It is my unedited account of the start of my birthday in Hawaii in 1998.
