Ask Cousteau, He Knows

Susan writes...
I went on a great trip to Spain and Morocco....

Ask Cousteau, He Knows*
By Susan Christensen
April 5, 2011

The Med is dead!
But, dead can be beautiful:
There is still the excitement of the crashing storm waves,
With slate-smooth combers crashing in
Lacing the shore with froth.

Or, see how navy rims the horizon edging into
Deep teals that graduate into
Myriad curves of blues and greens
Frilling snow-white on the sands.

No squawking gulls picking over
The residue of life left by the receding tides
On the clean sandy beaches--
Just the odd dead fish
Desiccating under the sun’s burn.

No wind blown or sodden feathers.
No birds at all.
Only the sound of the waves.

No tide pools teeming with small crabs
And slippery life forms
That make your toes scrunch up.

No stranded, stinking kelp
Or drifts of sea weed
Mucking up the beach where you’d like to sun bathe.

Just some narrow drifts of wave-beaten shells,
Too colourless to collect,
Unless you prefer the translucent hues
Of thin and fragile ones
Catching a transient sheen from the sun.
Let them rest in peace.

No messy tide pools,
No noisy birds,
No slimy seaweed;

Beautiful
As the picture in the brochure.


~ Susan Christensen

* Google: Cousteau, Mediterranean Sea, lab accident, noxious weed.