Forty days, forty nights,
escapist pleasure journey.
Biblical allusion not intended.
Worm of guilt
bored occasionally into mind.
Guilt of the privileged sort.
News cycle ignored.
Earth’s scenery, our view of choice.
Oceanic patterns, lulling waves.
Occasional roiling seas
cause drunken-like weaving
walking ship’s corridors.
Icelandic land of fire and ice,
revealed its secrets
in midst of deep rift.
Two tectonic plates still shift.
Greenland’s hospitable coast
contrasted with glaciers and ice sheet.
Cold shoulders in the distance,
flaunt their daunting interior.
Bay of Fundy’s highest tides
reveal Nature’s pummeling forces.
Ocean’s height belligerently batters
river’s flow in opposite direction.
Maine’s light houses,
generational directional beacons.
Nova Scotia’s history laid bare
in Gaelic village of yore.
Forty days and forty nights,
pilgrimage complete.
Domestic work claims attention,
simplistic refreshing of our abode.
More difficult November task,
refreshing our country as well.
Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today Bjorn asks us to write a poem dealing with a pilgrimage of sorts. Poem and all photos refer to and taken on our recent 40 days and 40 nights trip that included Iceland, Greenland, going above the Arctic Circle, Nova Scotia, New Foundland, Bay of Fundy, Quebec City, and Maine. Incredible scenery….incredible to be away and appreciate the land and so many diverse people.
Beautiful pictures of what looks like a memorable journey. Nicely written Lillian 👏
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Thank you, Shaun! Seeting the total eclipse of the sun on the ocean outside of Iceland was an amazing experience….as well as walking through the “ridge” with the North American Tectonic Plate on one side and the Eurasian Tectonic Plate on the other side…knowing they’re still moving (albeit VERY SLOWLY), was otherworldly. We’re fortunate to be able to travel.
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Oh wow that sounds like an exciting journey. Greenland and Iceland would be amazing.
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It was indeed!
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So well done, Lill. What an amazing adventure. Thank you for sharing your photos & commentary along the way.And now you head to Colorado to see relatives & join Abbey to see Skyler
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I suspect Skyler is going to be most interested in talking with George about geology! I’ll be sure to send you pics. For me, it will be a way to be with Abbey more. She is so incredibly busy, we don’t get to talk with her or see her too often. Think of you so often. LOVED the photos of their visit with you. Hope you got my postcards 🙂
Do look at dVerse (https://dversepoets.com) on October 6th. I’m doing the prompt and it will be very special. We were on our cruise ship (same cabin) for 4 back-to-backs which came out to 40 nights. Of those 40 nights, we ate 38 of them in the same dining room with the same waiter, etc and so, really got to know them well. Our head waiter was talking about his son one night, Azul who is 8 years old. He showed us some paintings his son recently did and my jaw dropped. He is an budding artist. I received permission to share three of Azul’s paintings and 1 of his drawings for my October 6th prompt! I’ll then send his dad back links to all the poems they inspire! Would love for you to write a poem to one or more of them. You’ll be amazed to see them!
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Such an amazing adventure Lill! And beautiful images of a land many would love to see personally, so thank you for sharing.
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It was indeed an amazing trip. Adda, I love that you read my poems!
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Lillian I love how this balances the grandeur of a long journey with the quiet, grounding realities of returning home – brilliant photos too 🙌
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Thank you! It was an amazing trip!
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Gosh what a trip! You capture the various places so well.
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I remember Iceland for one reason apart from the wonderful nature and that was the news cycle of the bombings in Osloa and shootings at Utöya
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks#Ut%C3%B8ya_mass_shooting
one of the worst terrorist attacks in our part of the world….
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A magnificent poetic description of your JOURNEY, Lillian. Thank you so much for sharing with us~~and the photos, *****WOW*****. Also many thanks for your comment on my journey, our shared journey.
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A beautiful thoughtful poem, Lillian. Your opening lines of guilt of the privileged sort apply to most of us here in the US as we look at what is happening around the world. We don’t realize how blessed we are, and yet we complain!!
You journey was wonderful, with lovely photos to enhance your words. Well done!
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