Thursday, May 07, 2009
Treasured Islands - A Poem
Category: Writing and Poetry
Treasured Islands
The Galapagos Corridor
Treasured islands, worlds far apart
Remote outposts of captive life
Encircled by monstrous moats
Guarded by the vigilant shark
Shielded from violent mainland strife
Colonized by chance flight or float.
Cocos – the perfect pirate lair
Tropical sweetly perfumed breeze
The treasure of the Incas rich,
Legend whispers is buried there
Mythical, cruel deceptive tease
Temptation throws the strongest pitch
The treasure unseen plainly stands
Rising skyward glittering green
Bejewelled with cool waterfalls
Verdant green stands the rising lands
Twin volcanic peaks are first seen
Surf, a chorus of sirens calls
A Lei of life surrounds the land
Hammerheads, silkies and white tipped,
Black tip, mantas and golden rays
Vermilion crabs upon the sand
Exotics stranded where shipped
Changing the island day by day
The treasure slowly slips away
Sharks finned by glittering steel
Fish ripped from the sea of life
Eyes spark and then dying do fade
Oblivious of what they feel
Paradise blooded red with strife
South is the fortress Malpelo
Naked stony towering crests
Guarded strong by flesh eating crabs
Hard reddish shells, flecked with yellow
Blue footed boobies guarding nests
Guano layered in whitish scabs
Skinks slither over the grey rocks,
Lava lizards dart upon the stones
Pelicans glide over the strand
Petrels flutter in feathered flocks
Wind whistles through bleached rib bones
Mournful hymn to nature’s hard plan
West, the Isles of Enchantment
Where Darwin saw his great Crusade
The greatest treasure of them all
The isles of Enlightenment
T’was here that myth began to fade
And reason did receive her call
Salt snorting black satanic imps
Darting amongst sly sharks and rays
The beak of the finch held the key
Making us cousins to the chimps
Forcing us to change our old ways
Showing us a new world to see
The Galapagos triangle
Holds the sacred living treasure
The keystone of our survival
It’s ours to save or to mangle
Risks impossible to measure
The promise of our revival.
Three worlds within the corridor
Lush Cocos, Stony Malpelo
Cacti studded Galapagos
The same sea joining all their shores
The song in the sea wolf’s bellow
Calls to save the Galapagos
***Kudos Paul, we thank you Blessed be from the depths old mate....
