What is the theme of the poem "The Story" by Karen Connelly?

One theme that runs through "The Story" is that, while taking a risk is often
considered in positive terms, there are inherent and varied dangers in doing so.

The speaker begins by saying that humans are all swimming around in the metaphorical
ocean of lifemost of the time staying in safe, shallow water. Eventually, however, the speaker
narrates in second person ("you") how the reader will take a risk and leave these safe
shallows (i.e., dive into "deeper" waters, not knowing what dangers lay beneath the
surface).

The speaker states that there is an awareness of the dangers of
this risk-taking:

You know you are a fool
For
having come this far.
You know you could never
Swim fast enough

And often, the speaker states, we find that our fears are over
nothing. The thing we are afraid of is simply a piece of drift wood or even a dolphin that was
"lurking" out in the waters of life (metaphorically representing things that at first
seem dark and menacing but which actually turn out to be...