A letter to the midnight zone; revised

No sunlight can reach you.
It is cold and silent, darkness envelopes all and crushes down,
but it is home.

Do you believe in age?
Do you acknowledge time?

As time drifts by,  slower than it does above you,
how do you know your existence?

Do you know about the world above?

Do you envy those that lie there glistening in the glorious warmth of the shallows?
Or do they know about you with your subtle beauty, your rippling glow and your silent power?

Do you ask yourself if they are aware of what lies below?

Maybe they have seen a glimpse of your existence on a bloated carcass.

A slow world with an overwhelming depth to implode the unprepared visitor.
A seemingly barren and unwelcoming landscape,
Why bother with explosions of colour only for it to be covered with an expansive velvet black cloak of darkness.

But you,
 the illusive giant,
you light up your atmosphere.
You elegantly propel within your neon presence with arms flowing below.
You are ruthless and merciless in your quest, searching for any glimpse that catches your attention,
but I assume it is not without reason.

You see all with your eyes,
like pearlescent moons reflecting any pelagic embodiment
before reeling them into your grasp to devour.

You defeat anything smaller in stature,
there can only be one giant
and you reach gloriously to explore the expanse of your kingdom.

Do you truly know what lies above?
A busy and frantically colourful world.
 Hues of green and blue, jade and sapphire would ripple through your eyes.
Obstacles of mirrored revolving walls, darting in the glimmering brightness, life everywhere, colours never seen before,
a whole new world of what could be.

But it cannot.

You are from down below, it’s where your home is.
You are comfortable in the blackest depths, so why would you change?
But perhaps,
one day,
very slowly,
you could drift towards the light above, where time is fast and the existence is faster.
You could see what could be, see another reality.
See for yourself.

But past the shallows,
 past the tantalising array of prey,
past the vibrant living floors,
They decided you went too far.
 You let the sun pierce into your mooneyes
 and scorch your shimmering skin,
But you are dragged from the blue,
you saw too much.
You wanted to see for yourself,
to change your surroundings,
but they would not let that happen.




Below is a film by Coral Morphologic and Borscht which influenced the above letter.

The Coral Reef Are Dreaming Again from Borscht on Vimeo.