WALTZING WITH PENGUINS (Sing to Waltzing Matilda) 

Once the Polar Pioneer sailed to Antarctica,

Filled with eager visitors awaiting patiently.

And they sang when they spotted an iceberg in the ocean,

“We’ll soon be waltzing with penguins, you’ll see!”

“Waltzing with penguins, waltzing with penguins,

We’ll soon be waltzing with penguins, you’ll see!”

And they sang when they spotted an iceberg in the ocean,

“We’ll soon be waltzing with penguins, you’ll see!”

Down through the channel lined with peaks and glaciers

On past floating ice and a leopard seal,

Until at last they paused to climb aboard the Zodiacs

To go ashore and see if penguins are real.

“Waltzing with penguins, waltzing with penguins,

Oh, how great waltzing with penguins can be.”

And they sang as they wandered around with the penguins,

“Waltzing with penguins is a possibility!”

Up zoomed the skuas that dive-bombed the visitors

These pesky birds are the natural scene.

So is the “pink stuff” left by the penguins

On the rocks and nearly everywhere you’ve been.

But when you’re waltzing with the penguins,

Watch where you step, and you’ll come back clean.

And they sang as they waved “Goodbye” to the penguins –

“We’ll come a-waltzing with penguins again!”

“Waltzing with penguins, waltzing with penguins,

We’ll come a-waltzing with penguins again.”

And they sang as they waved “Goodbye” to the penguins,

“We’ll come a-waltzing with penguins again.”

MASTER OF THE FROST

Are you Cold?  Are you Hot?

You may be either, but I am NOT!

It is a matter of relativity

How we perceive temperature to be.

Will I decide to thaw or freeze?

Perhaps I’ll do both, if I please!

Like monks whose bodies steam

Though in a state of cold extreme,

In my mind, I feel no chill.

I warm myself purely by will!

So let the Katabatic winds blow –

Am I COLD?  Of course, NO!

CONSEQUENCES

Even if we were not the first,

We don’t want to be the last

To see the great expanse of white

Of an Antarctic of the past.

Yet, we recognize climatic change

Comes with ebb and flow.

And, we may witness dramatic shifts

That once we thought were very slow.

No one can predict the effects

Our impact has on this fragile planet.

Or, how soon they’ll be felt by all

That abide within it.

Look carefully now and take inventory.

We should assess the cost

Of our delay, of failed policy,

When we survey the loss.

There may be time to save some aspects

Of our natural pearl,

And hope for a future that will cherish

The Antarcticas of the world.

ANTARCTIC PERSPECTIVE

It is the seals who rule the waters

As penguins chirr and coo upon the land

The skuas screech and sweep among them

While whales chorus, “Catch me, if you can.”

All around the ice is cracking, heaving, drifting,

Into the waiting depths down glacial walls

Where with thundering splits bergs break

And plunge in the ocean with dramatic falls.

The blue forms of ancient ice float gracefully

In a dramatic dance of crystal splendor,

Reaching into steely skies with chiseled arms

And into the liquid abyss down under.

To the cadence of the waves’ crashing concert

While foam and spray douse rocky shores

Draping cliffs with sparkling straws of ice

Nature’s symphony continues forevermore.

What am I?  —A snowflake in this vast land of white?

What am I?  —A feather drifting on the dark sea?

What am I?  —A whisper in the howling wind of night?

I am dwarfed by Antarctica’s majesty!

DEEP FREEZE

When the nights are longer and the wind is strong

The seals will not wonder why I’ve come and gone.

Most penguins will have left for a winter fishing ground.

Only the Emperors will choose to stay around.

The sea ice grows and builds a shelf, locking all within its grasp

Holding it firmly in place until winter’s grip has past.

Each creature concerns itself with basic need

And follows its instincts where they may lead.

To live in the Antarctic requires special adaptation

To find food, shelter, meet every situation.

The creatures that make their homes in this place

Have discovered ways to solve each challenge that they face.

Survival is the focus and the impulse to create

Another generation before it is too late.

Whether it is plant, or bird, or aquatic life in the stream,

All things living rush to join this natural theme.

I have not the means nor suitability

To endure extreme conditions of a frozen land and sea

Where temperatures plummet to more than 70 degrees below

Where across Earth’s driest desert, Katabatic winds blow.

It is but a privileged few who witness an Antarctic sight,

And a tiny number who remain through Antarctic’s winter night.

The season waits for no one and as no one waits for me –

I leave knowing that my visit was a rare opportunity.

CALVING GLACIER SOUNDS

Though seals, birds, and penguins

    May happen to be around

When the ice calves from the glacier edge

    Does it make a sound?

Or, does it create sound waves unnoticed

    If not received by human ear?

And, is the event lost forever

    Because no one was near?

Just how important is it that

    A person must be there

To witness the wonder of nature

    And report what they hear?

The earth evolved without us

    To interpret or understand.

And it will go on without us, too--

    The sea, the sky, the land.

We are a mere presence allowed to take

    Our turn in the stream of life

That flows out through the ages

    In waves of peace and strife.

How we fare, in part,

    Depends on our sensitivity

To hear the glacier calving

    And act responsibly.

ALBATROSS

With sculptured wing and streamlined form

The albatross glides by,

Lifted by thermals and currents of air

High into the sky.

Though storms may rage and gales may blow

And waves may rise and tower,

The albatross soars easily

Through the weather’s awesome power.

In an unending quest, they roam the sea

To find the perfect food

Which they collect and carry back

To their awaiting brood.

With gentle clicks albatross find their mates

Renewing their family bond.

Together they will raise their chick

And pass sea secrets on.

The challenge of survival in the wild

May be humbling or we may well feel lost.

But, survival in the wild is natural

For the mighty albatross.

            Edie Summey

            Aurora Expeditions to Antarctica

            M/V Polar Pioneer

            February  – March, 2008