From The Bathtub To The Ocean Poem by RIC BASTASA

start with the bathtub, scrub yourself
with soap and some perfume
smooth white skin and flawless body
cleaned with soft water
safe on the privacy of your
comfort room

there is no challenge there
there is just this stagnancy
that kills
and numbs the mind
life is more than that
life always
wants an exploration
of the unknown

and so you begin to think of the shore
of the sea
and its waves and its rolling nature
its challenge for you
to swim or take the sail
towards the ocean
beyond the comforts of your domestic mind

you look forward to the vast expanse
of the Atlantic or the Pacific
you anticipate the storms
the cyclones
of your life
the way other people's ships sink
how other people drown
and how they tell you
they survive

and then they start telling you the real meaning of life
you must go
and find the meaning of your life yourself

definitely not in that silly bathtub
it is always in that ocean
the cyclones
the storms after