Sink Or Swim

Let's go down to the beaches
And run from the edge of the sea
See what the movement teaches
A frail sense of autonomy

Cold toes in the water
Two steps from freezing feet
Feel the strength as you go in deeper
And the cold consistency
And if there's anyone watching
You dare not turn around
Till your arms are doing the clutching
As your feet leave the ground
Control or capitulation
A new sense of affinity
Having lost all the hesitation
But back there it was just the sea

Just a blue mass on the postcards
Just a place to race the boats
Just a waveline on the blackboard
And now see how long the illusion float
With risk co-ordination
Swim half as far as you can
We lose control of the situation
When we think we've got it all pre-planned

Back in dead-air building blocks
We lose the urge to take a risk
And calmly change our sandy socks
Wishing there was more that this
Stuck in these concrete houses
We dry out in the heat
Invent the worst excuses
To stay there permanently

Too many regulations
Too many rituals
The biggest risk was taken
Deep-ending in the swimming pool
The structured sand and water
Reflects our structures lives
We swim but never further
Than the constraints of our minds

Let's get back to the beaches
Wider than a postcard
And run straight into the sea
Longer than a holiday

That's what the movement teaches
Sink or swim spontaneity

You'll see what citizen can be
If we recall the deep blue sea
That evolved our weary brains
Getting shrunk from too much stress
We either get back into swimming
Or we sink into a mess!