here i am
or so it seems
on this rocky sea bed
strange fish swimming by stare
impolitely
at me
i would like to, crablike, crawl
deep into hidden crevices
and seek counsel
from the wise octopi

Honorable Octopi,
i seem to have sunk down
quite gill-less and un-finned
uh, rather hapless here
a mere, terrestrial, mortal in these depths
Could you please perhaps advise?
As nearly everything seems to have gone awry.

five large octopi
pulsing, and
floating gravity free bobbing lightly
look at me
and then at one another
and then at me again

(i anxiously regret every takoyaki i’ve ever eaten and consider
this may not necessarily end all that well
for me)

five pairs of eyes narrow, and
i don’t know how many long flowing tentacle-like arms start
unfurling around my face
landing soft inquisitive pokes and jabs
then suddenly
one arm like a flash of lightening
hurls a small sparkling stone behind me
and i swivel
ready to run away but am stoped by the five octopi

What are you doing, Tako? I ask, both nervously and annoyed
We are not Tako…
But in Japanese…
NO, not Tako!
Um, Yaki? I laugh, unable to stop myself.
A flurry of arms move the water all around sweeping me off my feet,
and ten eyes narrow in on me…
We are the Honorable Consortium of Octopi, we are
Your High Holiness the Grand Octopi of the Deep!
I squirm. All ten eyes seem to burrow into my soul, leaving no stone
unturned
And my long laundry list of woes out of the water surface
bubbling up one by one
bobbing, floating, gravity free
just like
The Honorable Consortium of Octopi

like rhythmic gymnasts, these five octopi begin playing with
and dancing,
twirling and tossing, spinning and balancing
all my woe ball bubbles
around!

You terrestrials take everything much too seriously
said the octopi, laughing
at me
All these woes of yours… what are they really?
Look, look closely, very closely, carefully…
they instructed while holding out one particularly large woe ball bubble
to me
resting it lightly in their long sucker-lined arms

and as i looked, my so-called woe ball bubble was shining softly,
like a crystal ball
drawing me further and further into its round sphere
where memories and emotions slid around shifting like sand
like a kaleidoscope
new patterns continuously emerging into view
one after another, each one
special somehow, beautiful, and entirely unexpected
mesmerizing
i was spellbound

tap, tap-tap…
an octopus tentacle on my shoulder
snapped me out of my woe ball bubble turned crystal ball kaleidoscope reverie
See? Terrestrial, it’s infinite, like mirrors mirroring mirrors
an endless parade of possibility
a playroom, perhaps
or a dance
a gem

and-just-like-that—
poof!
The Honorable Consortium of Octopi
disappeared,
all but right winked out of time and space…

Your High Holiness the Grand Octopi of the Deep,
i whispered
into the watery silence around me,
Thank You.
And, um… No more takoyaki for me. I promise. From now on it’s tomato-yaki.
but, The Honorable Consortium of Octopi
had vanished
without a trace

i take a deep breath and am about to push off this sea bed
to swim back up to the surface
but then i spy
a small sparkling stone
and i see it is not just any small sparkling stone
it’s a gem
smiling, i put it in my pocket
and i know

we’ll be alright

[Image by Erik Tanghe from Pixabay]