On this misty morning, a man and his dog crossed the Tolomato River and then disembarked on to the floating deck attached to the Vilano Beach Pier. It could have been the Charon on the river Styx landing on the dock in Hades. He wasn’t; it wasn’t; it wasn’t. It was an unnamed man on Tolomato River in St Augustine.

I spotted a fisherman casting his net into the sea from the Vilano Beach Pier. It reminded me of Tagore’s allegorical poem.

In the morning I cast my net into the sea.

I dragged up from the dark abyss things of
strange aspect and strange beauty —
some shone like a smile, some glistened like tears,
and some were flushed like the cheeks of a bride.

‘What strange things are these?
I know not of what use they are!’

Then the whole night through
I flung them one by one into the street.

In the morning travellers came;
they picked them up and carried them into far countries.

Memento Mori. I saw a dead fish on the pier. Memento Mori. It laid there, still. Memento Mori. A family – elderly man, a dog, a couple, a child, and a toddler – passed me by. Memento Mori.

Nick Moser, a poet wrote a poem titled “Dead Fish.”

Dead fish do not move.
They lay there,
Dead.

Dead fish do not breathe,
They lay there,
Dead.

Dead fish do not speak.
They lay there,
Dead.

But the dead fish do wander.
They wander around fish heaven,
Or fish hell.

But we are not dead fish.
We are alive people, well at least some of us.
We can do things.

Vilano beach pier juts into the Tolomato River. Walking westward, you can see St Augustine Marina on your left, shut down restaurant “Beaches” on your right and the “Bluebird of Happiness Statue” ahead.

We can go out and live lives livelier than those dead fish.
We can live for those dead fish.
We can wander and wonder and do nothing all at the same time.

You can access a floating dock from the pier.

We are all given life to live and lives to breathe life into.
Alive humans and dead fish.
At one point in time, we all have the opportunity to be someone who does something maybe even with somebody.

Alive humans and dead fish.
Dead humans and alive fish.
Alive humans and alive fish.
Dead human and dead fish.

Creatures have beautiful and blank canvases on which they can spill beautiful masterpieces on.
Or even blank masterpieces.

It just depends on who you're asking to paint you a picture.
An alive human, or a dead fish.

We are alive. We are not dead fish. Live lively lives, pursue passionate projects, foster fervor, experience events, and express yourself earnestly. Life is short. Entropy prevails.

MEMENTO MORI

Gear Notes: Hasselblad CFV II 50C/907X | XCD 30/3.5 | XCD 80/1.9 | Leica Q2 Monochrom