When you are afraid of drowning in the big wide ocean, simply lie back and you will float. This is the first lesson that the narrator in the poem taught his daughter. Always look up to the sky, and trust what's underneath. And trust, is that first lesson of life. Just like flowing in the ocean, as long as you believe in the people and world around you, they will not let you down, no matter what. As long as you trust the water underneath and lie back, gently, you will be just fine.

The narrator first tells his daughter to lay her head on the cup of his hand so he can teach her how to float, which resembles young children that are completely dependent of their parents. At that stage of life, they have basically no self-protection at all. Their parents are starting them on the...