As a child,
they had tried to scare her
with stories of Jaws,
and other undersea dangers.
Her mother wanted her to be safe,
which meant keeping her as close to shore
as possible.
Now, out there, alone, bobbing,
she clearly understood
just how vast and unforgiving a mother
the sea was, or could be,
and how, by radical turn,
she had become the water baby,
unafraid to submerge.