James – Santiago

Palo santo struggling to bloom
In the sun and dry,
The sea surges to fill the grotto
Lacing the ebon lava,
The fur seals greet each stranger
Secure in their pacific home.

Because humans were so late to the Galapagos, most of the animals are unafraid of human contact. Unfortunately, the fur seal had been hunted almost to extinction. On land they were very shy but in the water it was a different story. They seemed to enjoy swimming with human companions, inviting games of chase, peer into the face mask, tug the flipper. The sheer exhuberance as the sea washed us into the grotto and out again was breath taking. MJG

August 3, 2019 0

Bartolome

Rising to tear the sky
Toothed craters tower
Climbing to touch the sun,
Emptiness in your plains
Barren of all save thought
Necklaced by the emerald sea,
The sun devils laugh
In the searing sky
While an old man broods upon the rock.

I was snorkling in the cove by Pinnacle Rock. I noticed that from that angle, it looked like a churchman in full regalia. MJG

August 3, 2019 0

South Plaza

Sweet jewel of sunlit rock
Abounding in life,
Burnt rubies on your rocks
Pink marble, gift of the sealions,
Busy, always busy
Terns and petrels, dark motes against the sea,
Swallow tail gulls, drifting on wings of wind
Great frigates lurking above,
The business of birthing at hand
Leaving infants crying in new found freedom,
Red and golden dragons welcome all who come.

July 24, 2019 0

Fernandina

Black lava painted with verdant mangroves
The jealous sealions guard their sapphire pools,
Clumsy cormorants tender in love
Share their gifts of the sea,
Yellow sparks of warbler
Dance among the trees,
Tiny dragons dream upon the rocks
Ageless, asleep in the dying sun.

As a biology teacher I have to be honest. Fernandina doesn’t have saddleback tortoises like the one in the painting. That’s actually Lonesome George who was the last survivor of the Pinta tortoises. Gone now, too. I never wrote a poem about Pinta but I think I saw George at the research center on Santa Cruz. He deserves to be remembered. MJG

July 24, 2019 0

Blue Footed Booby

Clumsy bobo
With feet dyed by the sea,
Awkward antics of love
Show her your bright blue feet,
Then strain all skyward
To solicit heavens good graces.

July 22, 2019 0

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