Rubbing soft sleep from my eyes 

A bright light takes to the sky,

An emerging sun on the horizon 

Burning, glaring 

like a lighthouse beacon.

Declares the dawning of a new day 

Parents bathe while children play, 

Splashing around in the crashing waves;

Family memories, 

we secretly crave.

Silhouettes of the off-shore isles  

Loom silently,  

holding court to our trials. 

Remote destinations to be ever chased, 

A location where

Office daydreams take place. 

Leaning back in the soft sand

Beside, a friendly beach hound.

Salty air on an ocean breeze

Inhaling deeply,

This moment of ease.

The hourglass turns and the tide pulls away

For much of the morning, you were content to stay.

Up

Now the sun, in this scene of serenity

Time, too

In its evanescent brevity.

Bounding off the deep sea breakers

In this fisherman’s boat,

Rings the laughter

Of friends,

As the view of the island

Changes its lens.

Coasting in on water so clear

Seemingly drifting across thin air.

Reaching that once distant

isle destination,

Office daydream; now manifestation.

Palm trees lean out over water transparent

Another day, in a life

aberrant.

Conch shells lie under the reef

Tempting to be taken

By a nautical thief.

Across the sea an island overshadowed

By stormy clouds, yet somehow,

Hallowed.

The crystal clear waters beckon to swim,

Irresistible,

Like the call of ancient Sirens.

Diving in the water so chill

For a brief moment,

Heart held still.

Surfacing, surveying,

The tropical haze

With a deep sigh, as if to say,

“I’m just not ready to leave,

These glory days.”

This is the first poem that I’ve ever written and published myself. During my undergraduate studies, I experimented a little bit with poetry but never stuck with it. In an effort to switch things up and continue trying new things, I felt poetry would be a proper avenue to express a spontaneous weekend adventure I just recently had.

After spending a night camping in a hammock by the beach with some fellow PCVs, I was able to witness my first Caribbean sunrise. The remainder of the morning I spent reading, bathing, and relaxing on the beach with only a friendly stray dog to accompany me. That afternoon, I was fortunate enough take a trip to Sandy Island, an uninhabited isle just off the northern coast of Grenada with a few other PCV friends.

It’s times like these I often have to “pinch myself,” to make sure it’s all real (which, I checked, it is). But these spontaneous weekend adventures are some of the things that I’m truly going to cherish when all is said and done.

This poem is my attempt at capturing not only that weekend experience, but the feelings that come with it. This narrative poem is written in free verse, as although it’s made up of a number of rhyming couplets, it doesn’t follow a set rhyme scheme or pattern. It might help to use a dictionary, as I learned and used some new words myself this time around.

I hope you enjoyed it and thanks again for following along.

Cheers!