poems 2 rock your soul by Laird Hamilton

i often get asked
what goes through
my mind when
i’m riding the
biggest waves in
the world
waves
that would surely
kill a
normal man
someone lacking
my incredible
athletic gifts and
preternatural feel
for the unpredictable
rhythms of
nature
someone whose nerves
would surely go to pieces
when faced
with the reality of
life on the
razor’s edge
someone who probably
isn’t banging a hot
world-class beach
volleyball player and
making seven figures
annually
in sponsorship deals and
traveling the world
staying at high-end
surf resorts, treated
like poseidon by
every sun-burned
surf bum from
san diego to biarritz

i often get asked
what goes through
my mind when
i’m riding the
biggest waves in
the world
and this, i suppose,
is essentially what
goes through
my mind