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The Albatross
| Open Poetry #44 |
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The Albatross |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia 
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Her silhouette stands proudly upon the craggy cliffs, backdropped against small sage covered islands, overflown effortlessly by pelicans and guiltless gulls flying overhead while watching insignificant sailboats rock and roll precariously over white capped foam, tossed about in the rise and fall of crested peaks. The lofty birds taunt and tease with nature’s ease at the floundering humans below frantically casting glances of fear and doubt, as if the gods should be bothered listening to their soulful cries after yearly hearing a myriad of lies about how humans would be more careful in the future to take better care of the waters of the Earth, the basic necessity for the survival of all life forces. Giddy gulls screech with maniacal laughter as pendulous pouched pelicans swoop and scoop a bountiful fish harvest while pitiful hungry storm tossed humans fall to their knees, begging forgiveness, seeking salvation from the roiling sea. On the beach, lowly crabs crawl slowly away clapping with glee at the prospect of the end of man... so full of himself in his constant carelessness, his slovenly behavior, and incessant inhumanity. Perched high above on the steep cliff, the long-winged albatross sits solemnly as she presents the Universe with a nestling that shall once again inherit the skies and seas. http://www.birdlife.org/action/campaigns/save_the_albatross/campaign.html Good News Flash from Birdlife International: "many species of seabird – particularly 18 of the world’s 22 species of albatross threatened with extinction - have a brighter future thanks to a pioneering scheme uniting conservationists, the fishing industry and the South African government. The Albatross Task Force - created by BirdLife International and the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) in 2006 - is the first international scheme to place specialised instructors on fishing vessels to reduce the number of seabirds killed accidentally in fishing industries. The task force - first started in South Africa - initially worked with the longline fishing industry – targeting tuna and swordfish – but recently it has been extended to the trawling industry too. There are now ATF instructors in seven countries with globally-important populations of seabirds." |
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| © Copyright 2009 Kathleen Kacy Stafford - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Margherita Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236Eternity |
Oh, my dear Kacy, what an awesome reminder! If I had only read this single poem by you, I would already become a fervent fan!  in the hope of humanity's awareness to grow incessantly, as some single initiatives show (thank you for the link and your note).A KEEPER! Will now read it once more. Love, Margherita  |
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secondhanddreampoet Member Ascendant
since 2006-11-07
Posts 6394a 'Universalist' ! |
Another excellent (as usual) reminder of the critical importance of Gaia 'stewardship'! fine and important 'write'! much loud and long-sustained applause!! |
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OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
Kacy, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVVVVVVVVVVVVVE THIS! I am also feeling particularly proud to be a South African too, basking in reflected glory, as I had nothing to do with the information you added! Isn't it wonderful to read some GOOD news about what (some!) humans are doing for the environment? I peeked at the link and will most definitely go and read it avidly when I am awake (which I am not much at the moment - not sure whether my name is Diana or Tigger or Daisy or Danté or Prince or Ciro). Thank you so much for every element of this wonderful post, Kacy. Beeeeeeeeeeeg smiles. Love Owl |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Oh, Margherita, what a wonderful complement! Protecting bird habitat is an especially important issue for me. The work this one organization (Birdlife International) is doing is an excellent example of how we can all work together globally to stem the tide of species extinctions caused by human carelessness. Thank you very much Bruce, for that kind reply. Diana? Grin, I knew you would enjoy this 'birds-eye' view of what is happening in your back yard. thanks for your exuberant reply! |
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Robert E. Jordan Member Rara Avis
since 2008-01-25
Posts 8541Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Yo dear Kacy, Do you think you can talk one of those birds into bringing me a nice fish dinner? Love Bobby |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
 It's doubtful, Bobby. |
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Robert E. Jordan Member Rara Avis
since 2008-01-25
Posts 8541Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Dear Kacy, Bummer. I will admit that humankind would be better served if they stopped breeding like rabbots. However, that being said, I only care about the human animal, and possibly cows. Seabirds take food out of the mouths of human children. Love Bobby |
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Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049California |
Kacy...as long as there are poets such as you, who can write imagery such as this, there will be beauty and wonder. |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Bobby, seabirds give far more than they ever take...in ways one might not always fathom. Diversity is the foundation of life on this planet. Humans are only a small part of that diversity. Martie, thank you so much for reading and for your kind reply. |
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Robert E. Jordan Member Rara Avis
since 2008-01-25
Posts 8541Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Yo dear Kacy, You know me, I'm just a dumb city boy, and perhaps a humanist. Seabirds are here to make life hard for humans. I can see no other reason. Hows about giving me a "for instance" of how the Albatross makes life better for the human family, outside of bird watchers. Love Bobby |
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turtle Senior Member
since 2009-01-23
Posts 548Harbor |
Hi midnite, very good! you're doing it right. You're kind of scaring me though....  Compare your poem to this one I wrote several years ago. I'm amazed at how close some of the storyline is. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Coastal Apathy The sea hunts the shoreline to bubble up the beaches, amidst the trash of individual indifference. Afoul an unending journey. Bald head terns tease black tailed gulls who bob in the surf with pointless languor. Bus bulging processions of Nikon telephotos and nine pixel digitals vie for photo ops. One lone, gimp starfish, stolidly stalks sterile tide pool number three. Speedo clad cyclists weave through the joggers, on sidewalks intended for neither. Tan park rangers, in bland green Tacomas, talk on their cell phones. Ignoring the tourists, they glance at their watches. I shake my head and resolve not to care. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ turtle  |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Wow, turtle, thanks for that! We were surfing a parallel thought! My first version of the albatross write was in 2001 or maybe 02, and has undergone a couple of updates. The similar take on human foibles is interesting, but your version was definitely more humorous! Bobby, why must any creature necessarily have a utilitarian purpose just to please or suit humans?  How udderly boring this planet would be if there were only humans and cows. The albatross often lives to be 50 years old, doesn't usually breed until age seven or more, and lays but one solitary egg per year. It's a wonderfully fascinating bird and deserves both respect and protection. By the way, albatross mostly eat squid and krill, and some fish. Many are scavengers that clean up what whales regurgitate. Not exactly what I'd feed anyone's children. Anyway, just think about the great songs and literature this one bird, the albatross, has inspired. Just for starters, you might want to re-visit Coleridge and The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. |
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Robert E. Jordan Member Rara Avis
since 2008-01-25
Posts 8541Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Yo dear Kacy, They eat other things besides that. They'll eat any fish the can put their beaks on. Didn't you ever eat squid as a kid. Perhaps you remember it as "calamari", perhaps not. Squid is good for you. Now, concerning whale vomit. Perhaps you've heard of "ambergris". Perhaps you've worn perfume made from it. True, it isn't very tasty. "With my crossbow I shot the ALBATROSS." Love Bobby [This message has been edited by Robert E. Jordan (02-23-2009 10:37 PM).] |
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Marchmadness Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271So. El Monte, California |
What a wonderful post, Kacy I love birds, especially sea birds. They are so beautiful, graceful and add so much joy to our planet. It's so nice to know there are people like you, Diana, Margharita and Bruce who brighten up a sometimes rather bleak world. Ida |
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ethome Member Patricius
since 2000-05-14
Posts 11858New Brunswick Canada |
Wow! You get the point across well in this write Kacy. Sad isn't it to see how man's ruined this planet because of his selfishness? At least there is someone trying to do something about it as is mentioned in the piece at the end. I read an article that stated that hundreds of thousands of birds die every year flying into windowed sky scrapers in large cities. It's a real problem. The birds see an object inside a room through clear glass and think they can land on it. Hit the window and fall to the streets. Some office building are now installing special decals on their windows to prevent such losses while others are installing smoked glass windows on newer buildings. Thanks for the nice write, it was very enjoyable to read. Eric |
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ethome Member Patricius
since 2000-05-14
Posts 11858New Brunswick Canada |
LIFE is everywhere around us. It is evident in the humming of insects, the singing of birds, the rustlings of small animals in the underbrush. It exists in the icy polar regions and in parched deserts. It is present from the sea’s sunlit surface to its darkest depths. High in the atmosphere tiny creatures float about. Beneath our feet untold trillions of microorganisms are at work in the soil, making it fertile for the growing of green plants, which sustain other forms of life. OUR earth teems with life. From the snowy Arctic to the Amazon rain forest, from the Sahara Desert to the Everglades swamp, from the dark ocean floor to bright mountain peaks—life abounds. And it is loaded with the potential to amaze us. It comes in types, sizes, and quantities that stagger the imagination. A million species of insects hum and wiggle on our planet. In the waters around us swim over 20,000 species of fish—some the size of a grain of rice, others as long as a truck. At least 350,000 plant species—some weird, most wonderful—embellish the land. And over 9,000 species of birds fly overhead. These creatures, including man, form the panorama and symphony that we refer to as life. But more amazing than the delightful variety around us is the profound unity linking them. Biochemists, who peek beneath the skin of earth’s creatures, explain that all living things—be they amoebas or humans—depend on an awesome interaction: the teamwork between nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and protein molecules. The intricate processes involving these components occur in virtually all our body cells, as it does in the cells of hummingbirds, lions, and whales. This uniform interaction produces a beautiful mosaic of life. Food for both man and animals results from intricate cycles—including the water cycle, the carbon cycle, the phosphorus cycle, and the nitrogen cycle. It is general knowledge that in the vital process of photosynthesis, plants use carbon dioxide and water as raw materials to produce sugars, using sunlight as the energy source. Incidentally, during photosynthesis plants release oxygen. Could this be termed a “waste product”? To us this by-product is hardly waste. It is absolutely essential that we breathe in oxygen and use it to metabolize, or burn, food in our body. We exhale the resulting carbon dioxide, which plants recycle as a raw material for photosynthesis. We may have studied this process in a basic science class, but it is no less vital and marvelous. And this is just the start. In our body cells and in those of animals, phosphorus is vital for transferring energy. From where do we get our phosphorus? Again, from plants. They absorb inorganic phosphates from the soil and convert them into organic phosphates. We consume plants containing phosphorus in these forms and use it for vital activities. Thereafter, the phosphorus returns to the soil in the form of body “wastes” that can again be absorbed by plants. We also need nitrogen, which is part of every protein and DNA molecule in our body. How do we obtain this element that is so essential for life? Although about 78 percent of the air around us is nitrogen, neither plants nor animals can absorb it directly. So nitrogen in the air must be converted into other forms before it can be taken in by plants and later utilized by humans and animals. How does that conversion, or fixation, occur? In various ways. One way is by the action of lightning. Nitrogen fixation is also accomplished by bacteria that live in nodules on the roots of legumes, such as peas, soybeans, and alfalfa. These bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into substances that plants can use. In this way, when you eat green vegetables, you take in nitrogen, which your body needs in order to produce proteins. Amazingly, we find species of legumes in tropical rain forests, deserts, and even tundras. And if an area is burned over, legumes usually are the first plants to recolonizeWhat marvelous recycling systems these are! Each of them puts to good use wastes from the other cycles. The energy needed comes principally from our sun—a clean, endless, and steady source. How that contrasts with human efforts to recycle resources! Even man-made products that are called environmentally friendly may not contribute to a cleaner planet because of the complexity of human recycling systems. In this regard, U.S.News & World Report pointed out that products should be designed so that their high-value components can easily be recovered by recycling. Is that not what we observe in these natural cycles? The Albatross is as important to nature's cycles as any other oxygen breathing creature on the planet. Man's greed in fishing the oceans his selfish way has caused a shortage of fish across the globe. Man throws away what he doesn't need out of huge nets (some ten miles long) and those life forms die disrupting nature's chain of life within the ocean. Less food for other species to feed on so they prey on whatever it takes for survival. It's got absolutely nothing to do with birds eating fish. It has to do with man disrupting life cycles on this planet. There's PLENTY of food on this planet to feed every living thing yet man won't share it because there's not profit in it for big business and government. MAN'S THE PROBLEM!!! Just a little boost for your point Kacy. Eric I just dropped back in to mention a staggering scientific fact. Did you know that for every litre (quart) of gas that your car burns it also burns 2200 litres (quarts) of air. That's right! 2200 litre/quarts being sucked down through a fuel ignigtion process and dispeled as a poisonous gas. Scary isn't it? Who was it that invented that car?????? That airplane? That fossil fueled ship????/ Eric |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Eric, you are unbelievable! Thank you. (what are you doing up at this hour? LOL. Me? I wake up at 3 AM almost every day) Your input shows a deep understanding of basic sciences, and a beyond-average grasp of universalism, the inter-connectedness of all life, the underlying truth that we are all one....every species has it's hue in this living rainbow of diversity. Where I end, you begin, and the albatross is part of this magnificent chain of life. Actually? I think we all merge and overlap, and have since the beginning of time. Now there's something to ponder...the beginning of time. That's another possibly never ending write! |
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inkedgoddess Member Rara Avis
since 2002-11-19
Posts 7392Ohio |
Thank you for bringing their plight and their glorious light to these pip pages. Sad that some people find it a joke and dont realize that birds fly in places where mere humans can only imagine. |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Thanks for your comment Michelle, I knew you would appreciate this bird. |
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secondhanddreampoet Member Ascendant
since 2006-11-07
Posts 6394a 'Universalist' ! |
EXCEPTIONALLY fine 'reply/comment' posts by 'ethome' to this 'important' write! would that the human species could rise beyond the 'homo-centric' paradigm expediently enough to save itself and this Gaia 'life-ship' Earth! [some responses to things such as this type of 'write' all-too-often suggest otherwise however] continuing applause for this 'penning'! |
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Marc-Andre Senior Member
since 2008-12-07
Posts 501 |
Midnitesun, I have to say that I found it way overloaded with adverbs and adjectives, it distracted this reader and slowed down the pace. However, the evocative imagery, the powerful message and the nonetheless artful write kept me reading. But here's what I did: I took out all (yes, all!) the adverbs and adjectives and I must say that this was a MAGNIFICENT read!! I think you should give it a try, and then put back those you believe would still enhance the piece. Have a marvelous day! Mark |
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OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
Kacy, just re-iterating that I love this, just as it is! Grinning back at you for lots of reasons (one being your cleverness!). Thank you Ida for mentioning me in this light. Thank you Eric for your admirable support of Kacy's point. And, thanks again, Kacy, for my further enjoyment of re-reading your poem and all the responses. Owl |
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