Ode to the Sea Caves of Gozo 🧜🏻‍♀️ (Malta)

Julia Sowaska
May 12
4 min read

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My Malta chapter has come to a close. In fact, I am writing to you from my trans-Atlantic flight back Stateside to visit for my nephew's graduation. It's been such a whirlwind since I left Malta and spent 2 weeks in Sicily that I am a bit behind in keeping my friends here updated! With only two weeks in Sicily, I was on the go trying to squeeze in every last bit of adventure time.

Not to mention spending some time coaching clients. A former client asked if I was still supporting folks via coaching while overseas, and so if you're wondering the same question: yes, yes I am.

This post will be a bit different: mostly, just to pay tribute to the sea caves of Gozo that I got to explore, who struck such awe and reverence within me, I felt compelled to write a poem about it. And I had so many amazing pictures of them to share, I decided to dedicate a whole post to them. So if you're not into caves, beauty, and reverence, you might want to skip this one 😎

Said poem is below. I invite you to read it once through...then, I've copied/pasted the line(s) again and included the photos afterwards for that relevant line(s) that I hope will convey the sense I was hoping to impart, reflecting my lived experience, via the chosen photos. I hope you enjoy the beauty of the caves! I wish the pictures could do them full justice.

As I was creating this post, I noticed my mind gently tapping on my shoulder and piping up, "Umm - excuse me? You're not really a photographer. Probably a real photographer would see these photos and cringe." There was a time when a thought like that would have probably stalled me in my tracks. But nowadays, I give that part of me a pat on the head, as well as a hug, and I remind it we're not doing this to do a "good job" at something...in this particular instance, the goal is to simply express reverence...to share a prayer of thanksgiving via assimilating an ode via words and pictures...not to showcase my talents. This gives me all the permission I need to be imperfect and allow it to be whatever it is.

In my next post, I'll share more about my final weeks in Malta, pros and cons, etc. Now, onto the praise of the magical way that wind and water and rock all come together to form some of the most magical, mystical portals I've ever entered into...

...so magical, in fact, that upon entering one about 5 miles into my paddle where I was using my GPS to track myself, when I re-emerged, I found it had teleported me a few hundred miles and back again...or maybe it never brought me back, but I just thought it did, and I'm now living in an alternate timeline with all of you lovelies ✨

Underwater life in a splash pool in one of the caves (Malta doesn't really have tides...isn't that weird? How is that possible?!?!). For scale, the orange creatures (sea anemones?) are the size of the bed of my small pinky fingernail. I have small hands.

Ode to the Sea Caves of Gozo

Cathedrals of light and shadow

waters electric blue.

Dark entrance beckons,

hidden depths await…

In the darkness,

something calls…

And one must heed the call,

musn't they?

For to heed the call -

enter the depths,

explore the darkness -

only then re-emerging

back into the light…

... only then does one truly

know themselves.

Denying the call,

is denying devotion

to your soul’s desires.

Water slips-drip-dropping,

swish-swash-swooshing.

As the sunlight slowly fades,

and the dark embraces me,

reverence and awe take its place.

I find...

I’m afraid of the dark,

The Unknown,

but only a little bit.

I find

I’m more afraid,

to forsake myself;

my soul’s clarion call.

For to ignore the call,

ensures spiritual withering,

and eventually,

spiritual death.

I whisper a prayer,

a blessing:

"that fate shall not be mine."

****************************

Cathedrals of light and shadow: