Sea Treasures
Alone, alone,all, all alone
Alone on a wide, wide sea
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge
And if the earthly no longer knows your name,
Whisper to the silent earth: I am flowing.
To the flashing water say: I am.
~Rilke
In the crystal stream of ocean
Fishes glide with tranquil motion,
Float in life that's sorrow free;
Yet your thongs, insplendor moving,
Show your festal spirit, proving
How much more than these ye be.
~Goethe, Faust-Part 2
NEW MILLENIUM SONG OF THE MERMAID
May your days be filled with surf and sun,
Fish shells and gallons o-fun.
May glittering light rays guide your way.
In safe harbors may you always play.
May you find good friends who will dive deep.
On stormy nights sweet dreams, deep sleep.
May you luxuriate in a cozy grotto.
On full moon night may you win the lotto.
May you live a long healthy life of leisure,
Filled with pleasure in endless measure.
May any troubles simply wash away,
And you have many a good hair day.
May you have abundant delicious sensations,
Get lots o-lovin and have good vibrations.
Swim with the dolphins, wear plenty o-pearls,
Drink tiny bubbles, dance with girls, girls, girls.
May boundless joy come over you.
Breach into the clouds and dive anew!
~Annie Sprinkle
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding-dong.
Hark! Now I hear them,---ding-dong, bell.
~William Shakespeare
Once upon a sea-side fair,
A lad named Mulder lay quietly there.
He dreamed and he wished, imagined and planned
Of all the ways of becoming a merman.
Lost in thought, he gazed out to sea
And wondered aloud, "Is there a place for me?"
A grizzled old land lubber overheard his remark
And turned on the lad like some heartless shark.
"Wake up, boy! You just listen to me!
There's no place for a man under the sea!"
With his eyes ablaze and shaking his fist
He said, "Magic and spells do not exist!"
His voice grew louder, and he said with a wail,
"No man should ask for some fish's tail!"
With that he turned and headed for home
Where fancies and dreams were forever unknown.
The boy felt crushed, his fancies were drowned,
When from a distance came a beautiful sound.
Rubbing his eyes, he looked up in shock
Where a pretty sea-maiden sat on a rock.
He watched her intensly, his mind in despair,
Sure that she could not really be there.
He gathered his courage and went for a swim,
As curious about her as she was about him.
Before long he found himself far out from land,
The mermaid smiled as she reached for his hand.
"To dream is precious, and though you are male,
There is nothing wrong with wishing a tail."
~Stephanie McGuire
PRETTY HALCYON DAYS
How pleasant to sit on the beach,
On the beach, on the sand, in the sun,
With ocean galore within reach,
And nothing at all to be done!
No letters to answer,
No bills to be burned,
No work to be shirked,
No cash to be earned,
It is pleasant to sit on the beach
With nothing at all to be done!
How pleasant to look at the ocean,
Democratic and damp; indiscriminate;
It fills me with noble emotion
To think I am able to swim in it.
To lave in the wave,
Majestic and chilly,
Tomorrow I crave;
But today it is silly.
It is pleasant to look at the ocean;
Tomorrow, perhaps, I shall swim in it.
How pleasant to gaze at the sailors.
As their sailboats they manfully sail
With the vigor of vikings and whalers
In the days of the vikings and whale.
They sport on the brink
Of the shad and the shark;
If its windy they sink;
If it isn't, they park.
It is pleasant to gaze at the sailors,
To gaze without having to sail.
How pleasant the salt anesthetic
Of the air and the sand and the sun;
Leave the earth to the strong and athletic,
And the sea to adventure upon.
But the sun and the sand
No contractor can copy;
We lie in the land
Of the lotus and poppy;
We vegetate, calm and aesthetic,
On the beach, on the sand, in the sun.
~Ogden Nash
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