Empty thoughts of sea

                           The three of them sat before the window looking at the sea.

                            One talked about the sea. The second listened. The third
                            neither spoke nor listened; he was deep in the sea; he floated.
                            Behind the window panes, his movements were slow, clear
                            in the thin pale blue. He was exploring a sunken ship.
                            He rang the dead bell for the watch; fine bubbles
                            rose bursting with a soft sound - suddenly,
                           'Did he drown?' asked one; the other said: 'He drowned.' The
                            third one
                           looked at them helpless from the bottom of the sea, the way one
                           looks at drowned people.


                          Poetry of Yiannis Ritsos