Garbed by the sea – underwater prayer – part of the earth poems series (2021)
(underwater film)
Garbed by the sea is a collaborative work with filmmaker and nature activist Jose G Cano as part of his series ‘earth poems’. This ode to nature’s embrace was created as a reminder of the beauty we must protect.
The first day was dedicated to underwater training. Elisabeth had to acclimatize herself with the dept of the indoor pool by learning to sink, remain calm in her facial expressions and breath while gliding the veils gracefully. jose was facilitating the training underwater with his diving gear on. during the second day, 3 people wrote elisabeth’s poem (Garbed by the sea) repetitively on her body. Kungy, jose’s partner, proceeded to make-up and hair. still photographs of the final result were taken. afterwards, both jose and elisabeth descended into the pool, capturing what came to them in the moment. the very next day, the poem was recorded, and the film was assembled.
With every movement, side by side, humanity and nature intertwined, a fragile bond, by fate, designed.
Garbed by the sea – elisabeth denis (2021)
I have watched 2 girls
Sitting by the Arabian sea
On the shore of India
Flashy attired golden skins
2 long dresses
Gold and Red
Blue and Silver
Garbed by the sea
Arrayed for the sea
Shouldn’t we all
Spruce up
When being in the face of her?
Everyone
Everywhere
Depends
Depends
Depends
On a healthy ocean
Everyone
Everywhere
Depends
On a healthy ocean
At this very moment
A breath is given to you
Sustaining your life
Impotent you would be
To read those lines
In the absence of her aliveness
Sea plants
Like Posidonia
Are responsible for 70% of the oxygen
We breathe
You see
She adjust the air you inhale
Like a continuous flow
Or a pulse-dose flow
A constant regulator
On a diver’s tank
A restless system
Serving you
Even in your deepest state of
Slumber
You don’t see her
But she holds you
Shouldn’t we wear
When we take residence in her
Pillbox hats
Red suspenders
Or a t shirt as black as
Her fathomless voids
Or a frock as blue as
What she appears to be when
The sunlight scatters across the molecules
When a sheet of stars rest
On her facet
Beaming
Like freckles on our
Perfect peels
Shouldn’t we wear something graceful
In her presence?
Ornaments as a symbol of
Recognition
For sharing the same breathe
For carrying a breathe
The same rhythms
The same blues
The same body of water
Shouldn’t we wear
A flashy garment
A bow
And genuflect
For what she provides
We can gleam for her too
I wonder
Why most people
Embellish their skins
To be seated at dinners
Dispensing her fishes
But not to perch and preach by the sea