Hump! Heave! Push!
Turn the boat, pull
It off the sand - and launch.
Aboard! Away!

Herman
Shoves his throttles forward
Curves across the crashing surf
And out in search of dolphin pods.

Angie
Stands in the bow. Searching, seeking
While
The powerful boat roars off
Up the Mozambican coast.

Then!
She points. He slows. We see
Slim gray shapes slipping through the waves.

Angie
Slides - off and in
To check their mood. Beckons,
We follow, two by two.

We float, hang, above
Their green world, breathing
Softly through our snorkels
While Angie
Spirals down, softly clicking.

They come. Pass below us
Turn, circle - once and again.
Dolphin sounds surround us, then
They go. But one
Turns again, comes back
Looks us in the eye. Seems to laugh, twists
And shoots off to join his clan again.

We surface; bubbling, exuberant
At having been so close to
Our cousins down below.