Southern Seas

By Don McDiarmid, in an American Magazine.

Are you among the chosen few, Who’ve watched the coast-line fade from view, And some stout ship sailed out to sea To carry you, as it did me, Far out across Pacific lanes Through waters showered with tropic rains To reach, at last, the South Sea Isles?

Have you seen, with the rising sun, A new Marquesan day begun, Revealing needled crags that soar To pierce low clouds, and reach for more, While opalescent waters vie For recognition with a sky Whose beauty no one mortal should Presume to picture, though he could?

And have you ever left the crowd When smoke was thick, and talk was loud Within the cabin of your craft, To wander to a deck “back aft”, And view a sunset which too soon Was but a memory; or commune With countless stars, and waves that toss Perpetual, ’neath the Southern Cross?

Have you, inside Papeete’s reef, Seen colour-schemes beyond belief, Where even natives on the quay Present a pastel symphony?

Or have you seen a full moon rise From water’s edge, to Tongan skies To find a cloud, so black and bold, And border it with flaming gold?

If you have sailed the Southern Sea, There’s nothing need be said by me, For, long as life remains, you will Recall this as your greatest thrill; But if you still have been denied The wonders of the Isles that hide In Southern Seas, I say to you: “Set sail . . . and live your life anew!”