Adventure Song

Wow. This day marks the end of our first week at SEA. It has been a wondrous mix of rigorous
science and ship handling, as well as the breathtaking beauty and adventure of sails against
stars and ocean sunsets. To address the latter, we have decided to read a poem before each of
our daily ship's meetings. I offer one now, to share a bit of the spirit we are feeling on board
the Seamans.

Adventure Song

And now my feet shall pass away
Ere killdeer call the close of day
My good friend, tis my back you see
I'll come not home to ease with thee      
Though sun be dappled on the road
And barley in the fields be sowed
And horses lay in straw so sweet
Still these things can't stop my feet
Though love be warm in friends so dear
Whose laughter still my mind can hear
Though milk and honey wait for tea
I cannot pause to stay with thee  

The world ahead, it calls me there

Wondrous adventure if only I dare
The clouds and stars of another sky
Shall be my company by and by
My feet go on to choose a track
Not hindered by my heavy pack
They jump ahead like fleeting hare
So glad this land is wide and fair
Alone at last I'll find my way
Where night unfolds to show the day
The stars give way to morning sighs
In fields of mist and soft sunrise
Where rocky cliffs look over sea
The gulls careen and call to me
I'll ride the waves and follow the wind
And sit with creatures gilled and finned

My wanders through won't end this soon
For calm night seas can mirror the moon
There in the glass beneath our prow
I see a lady with furrowed brow
Millions of stars lace in her hair
She laughs and I see a challenge there
She watches whether I turn back
Or forge ahead to face the black
Unknown except for those who heed
The wanderlust and aching need
Of souls that know ahead there are
Blue mountains rearing high and far
Waterfalls of silver steel
Over cliffs where great birds wheel`
Or landscapes made of frozen ice
Strange with cold and wind's device
These souls know ahead must lie
The wine dark end to the evening sky

So I continue on ahead
Away from candle, home, and bed
The darkness folds as I go on
Lovely as the earth I walk upon
I'll stride ahead for years or days
Round countless corners, hills, and ways
And then one morning I may see
Beyond these wilds and into me
When there at last myself I've found
I'll then decide to turn around
And these same feet shall carry me
Across those hills and back to thee

-Tara Smithee
SEA Earth Systems masters student