Before I was on this cruise, before I retired, before I was on Wall Street keeping the computers humming and the networks alive for the trading floors. Before I was married–– according to Meredith there was nothing before this–– I was a Marine Biologist who majored in marine algae…. seaweed. And of all the seaweeds, one of my favorites is Sargassum.

So here I am making a transatlantic voyage as the last leg of this fantastic journey, from Funchal, Portugal to San Juan Puerto Rico, and I find myself in the middle of the Sargasso Sea (map image taken from Springer Nature). So you can imagine what it was like for me looking out from our balcony on a beautiful morning as colony after colony of Sargassum slipped by on a surface often described by sailors as oil canning.

I am far from being a poet, but like Elizabeth Gilbert states in her Ted conference talk, ‘sometimes we are struck by creative genius’.

So three days into a six day transit I am taking a breather. But rest assured, after this post, I promise to focus on the Crystal Serenity and all the things she has to offer. Until then.

Sargassum

I have the ocean as my home,
Floating freely never alone,
My leafy branches facing the sky,
Embracing crabs turtle and fry.

I collect your plastics papers and foam,
Drifting to shore where I hear you moan,
Once golden and brown my bladders alive,
I now turn black turn brittle and die.

But still I give through phases of moons,
Beaten by wind-driven sands that build up your dunes,
Then grasses weave above me the tips of their reeds,
Summer calls to fall and I release my seeds.

From a watchful tower I can no longer be,
But far from here there are more like me,
So next time I wash up onto your shores,
Remove the plastics papers and lures.

Then leave me to rest for the birds to nest,
Leave me to be not far from the sea,
Leave me in peace as nature’s own quest,
Leave me to do what I do best.