MOTHERSWIMMER

I had a dream last year about an island. The island was populated by a remote and primitive people who did well there on their own except that there were no men on the island, only women. Once every 10 years or so, a tall ship carrying a group of silent colonial-looking men would arrive on the island, and there would be a ritual. In this ritual, the young women would line-up on a pier out over a bay. The men would swim under water, one for each woman, submerging themselves a few feet below the shimmering surface. The young women, having trained for this ritual their whole lives, would then dive into the water toward the men, and as they arced and swam upward to meet them, the men would swallow the beautiful young women whole.

There were some other characters and details in the dream, including a mother who was training her daughter for the ritual, a "motherswimmer" as she was known on the island. The daughter had no idea that the ritual would end in her being eaten, so the mother, laden with the guilt of her secret, switched places with her daughter last minute. As the daughter realized what her mother had done for her she realized that she was destined to be a motherswimmer too.

I think the main theme of this dream, and I'll write it out properly one of these days, is that men are inherently evil in every way, and that if we really had any respect for the miracle of nature that is women, we would spare them our sullied and unworthy company. Of course I'm projecting my own man-guilt, hewn of my recent hyper-active dating schedule, but there you have it. Themes.

Anyway, I wrote a song about the dream the very next day, but didn't finish it until today.

It's on an ethereal tip.


Motherswimmer
swim for your daughters
keep them
hold them
lie to them
for tomorrow

a white march
toward black depths
of kelp
into the throats
of men
the black hearts
of men



Phew, a little heavy, sorry!


Take a listen to the song via You Tube. I made a music video of sorts for it, walking around my neighbourhood today.

MOTHERSWIMMER