Rodeo Reef rests in golden light, with kelp-shakes on the saloon tables and sea-cows dozing on the warm sand.

At the bottom of blue, where the warm water sways,
Little Rodeo Reef dreams away its slow days.
The sand is so soft and the kelp-shakes so sweet
That nobody wonders what's up past the street.

1

Seen from below, the full moon rests on the underside of the water and spills a road of light down through the sea.

But once every month, when the moon swells round,
She lies on the water without any sound.
She spills a bright road and she hums a low tune,
And calls to the tide, "Come up. Come up soon."

2

The whole town lies on the moonlit sand with cups raised, every face tilted up at the moon.

On those nights the whole town drifts out to the sand
With kelp-shakes to sip by her light. It is grand:
The sea-cows, the Crabbe boys, and Granny in her shawl,
All watching her shine, never touching at all.

3

Tiny Pip stands up earnest among big chuckling sea-cows, his kelp-shake set aside beside him.

But one little fish set down his sip:
The littlest fish in the reef, called Pip.
"One night," whispered Pip, "I'll swim up to her light.
One night I will touch her, all silver and bright."
"Ho ho," laughed the sea-cows. "Lie down, little one.
No fish ever touched her. It cannot be done."

4

Pip leaps from the top of a tall kelp stalk and grabs at a moonbeam that pours straight through his fins.

Pip trained on the prairie and leapt off the kelp,
The tallest kelp crown, with a run and a yelp.
He flapped, and he fluttered, and snatched at her beams.
But moonbeams slip through you, like yesterday's dreams.

5

Pip lies face down in a puff of sand while the sea-cows behind him nudge over a fresh kelp-shake.

He tried every night till his fins were both sore.
He sank to the sand. Then he tried a bit more.
"We told you," the sea-cows hummed, one after one.
"Sip up, little fella. It cannot be done."

6

Cowboyapuss and tiny Pip sit side by side on a moonlit dune, both faces turned up to the light.

But Pip stayed out late, looking up at her glow,
Still sure as the tide, when a voice said, "Hullo."
A hat and a lasso eased down on the dune:
"Word is, some fella's been after the moon."
"They say it can't happen," sighed Pip. "Hm," said the hat.
"Folks said that of plenty. The moon heard all that."

7

Cowboyapuss rises off the dune with Pip at his hat height, the cosy town behind them and dark water ahead.

"It's cosy down here, and the kelp-shakes are sweet.
But nobody reached her from deep in a seat.
The Deep keeps her secret. You want it?" "I DO."
"Then saddle up, partner. I'll show you what's true."

8

A vent in the rocks blows big silver bubbles that rise through the night water while Cowboyapuss and Pip watch.

Out past the last dune, where the water goes deep,
A vent in the rocks huffed and puffed in its sleep,
Blowing big silver bubbles, like moons made of sea,
That rose and kept rising, up, easy and free.
"See, when the moon hums, the stones all say no.
A bubble says yes. And the yeses all go."

9

Cowboyapuss braces all eight limbs on the seabed, holding a rope around a huge bubble with Pip aboard.

One swing of the lasso, one soft easy throw,
And he roped the best bubble that ever did grow.
It bucked like a bronco. It strained for the blue.
He held her down gentle, the way wranglers do.
"Aboard, little partner. You set? Let RIP!"
He opened his grip, and UP went Pip.

10

Pip and his small silver bubble climb alone as the reef's warm glow shrinks far below.

Up, up went the bubble. The reef slid away.
The water went dark as the far edge of day.
No cowboy. No sea-cows. No shine and no shore.
Just Pip and his bubble and blue, nothing more.

11

Pip floats small in the dark water, one bright tear shining, humming the moon's tune to himself.

He felt very little. He let out one tear.
Then he hummed the moon's tune, so the dark felt less near:
The tune she hums nightly for calling the sea.
He hummed it right back to her: "Me. It is me."

12

The moon's silver road lights up high above and washes the dark away as Pip's bubble rises faster.

Then high overhead, like a lamp coming on,
A silver shine spread till the dark was all gone:
Her road, on the ceiling! Her hum said, "Come, Pip."
And the bubble rose faster, tip over tip.

13

Looking down past Pip's bubble, the whole town stands tiny on the moonlit sand with every face turned up.

Far, far below him, the town crowded round,
Their eyes on the ceiling, their fins off the ground.
"Come back, little Pip!" they cried up, every one.
"It's too far! Too high! It cannot be done!"

14

The bubble bursts into silver sparkles against the huge moon disc as Pip flicks his tail at the centre.

If Pip even heard them, he never looked down.
The ceiling swung close, like the rim of a crown.
The bubble went POP! It left nothing at all,
And Pip, for a heartbeat, began... not to fall.
For here is the rest of her secret: let go.
What lets go, she lifts. It was always just so.
One flick of his tail through the last of the blue,
And the littlest fish in the reef broke through.

15

Pip laughs inside the moon's huge silver ring, moonlight shining on his fins, freckles, and neckerchief.

And there he was: Pip! In the moon's silver ring,
With moonlight on every last littlest thing:
His fins and his freckles, his neckerchief too.
She hummed. And Pip laughed. And the whole town knew.

16

Pip drifts slowly down trailing silver light into the open arms of his friends on the moonlit sand.

Then down he came drifting, all silvery-slow,
To a sand full of faces who'd watched the whole show.
And nobody said it. Not one single one.
Nobody said, "It cannot be done."

17

On a bright full moon night, one small fish leaps through the silver road at the top of the sea.

And still, on full moons, when her road's lying bright,
You might see a small fish leap up through her light,
One flip and a flash, at the top of the sea,
Off to visit the moon. Humming, "It's me. It's me."

18