Ultimate Connectivity: 
swimming with the fishes
Janet Kuypers 
10/9/16
Already in my wet suit, 
I sat in the back seat of a car, 
itching to get into the water. 
The water at this bay in Oahu 
was amazingly blue, 
and all I wanted 
was to get into that water 
and swim with the fishes. 
And as soon as we got there, 
they warned me not to cross 
that coral reef in the water 
where the currents could take 
me out too far into the deep. 
So I nodded my head 
and went straight to the shore, 
and not too far in 
I swam to a school 
of bright blue dinner plate sized 
fish with bright yellow fins. 
And so I followed the fish, 
and after the fact 
they told me 
that the first thing I did 
when I got in that water 
was that I swam right past 
that coral reef in the water. 
Oh, I’m sorry, I was just 
swimming with the fishes, 
and on this day 
the current didn’t take me away... 
Because the only thing 
that would take me away 
was not the current, 
but the vibrant fish 
that let me share 
their space with them. 
I wasn’t there 
to invade their space, 
I was just there to swim 
with beautiful creatures 
and commune 
in a part of the world 
so few people could ever 
have the change to enjoy. 
So yeah, 
I’ll cross that line, 
I’ll do it again, 
just to swim with the fishes 
and connect with any life form 
I could possibly find. 
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