Always in water it’s fear that I feel.
The only air is what you take down.
If only I could swim like a seal …..

Everyone laughs that my fears are unreal:
“There are people around. We won’t let you drown!”
But always in water it’s fear that I feel.

A small boy wiggles through waves like an eel,
Though churning sands turn the breakers all brown.
If only, like him, I could swim like a seal!

From the shore you can hear church bells peel.
Where great waves roll there once was a town.
No wonder in water it’s fear that I feel!

Over dead sailors crabs scuttle and steal:
Along with their cargoes, the sea gulped them down,
Though every sailor could swim like a seal.

Against the sea’s summons there is no appeal,
Death does not heed an Olympian crown.
But at last in the water no fear shall I feel …..
I shall fly like a hawk and swim like a seal.