Ocean Sickness

A cloud of haze hangs low on the water Adults indulge every whim The reckless children splash in the surf But they don't know how to swim A line of oil rigs dot the horizon I'm caught adrift once again I let the tide carry me where it wants to Back where this all began A feel a wave of the ocean sickness It pulls me down to the floor It isn't far but I can't swim the distance To Catalina shore A line of mobiles sit on the freeway They stop and start and stop The city lights shine at night but you can't see them Through the car exhaust And though there's sun through the ocean sickness My head is caught in the fog It's been awhile since I could tell the difference Between the clouds and smog And on TV, you know it's paradise on earth But just like me, it is a thing so flawed from birth The sun is shining all through November The water's cold, let it freeze A seal swam by my head and I swear that it said "Good luck" to me I turn my back on the ocean sickness The sandy hair and the tans But through the cold I'll await the Pacific To call me home again And though there's pain through the ocean sickness I'm drawn away from the land And through the cold I'll await the Pacific To call my name again --- Ocean Sickness - David Wirsig