Seahorses

Swimming up through waves of green and gold
getting lost in reefs of coral
forests of mahogany and yellow
they wonder why it's always dark at the bottom of the ocean.
The water carries them gently
a lilting motion
eddying waves with foam on top
where the seahorses cannot see.
They swim down, down to the bottom
and float softly through the swaying green that ripples in the wind
the wind of the sea.
Suddenly, a light pierces the always gloomy murk.
Gently, it sends a shaft that colors all it touches with soft golden sheen.
The seahorses are surrounded and bathed in the glow.
They dance and gleam in the light
but only for a moment
the sun sinks lower in the western sky
the shaft moves farther and farther away
and then
gone
and the seahorses roam again in the darkening gloom
soon forgetting their dance and the sun
seeing only what they saw before
only now it is not enough
not the same
forever tarnished by the warmth of a moment never again repeated.