On the way to Jan Mayen,
many spent the night in their cabins hidin’
looking from bed through the port hole
waves had calmed and no more roll
most were thrilled by this change in the sea
except for the handful that claim “rougher is better for me”
the staff put together lectures all day
to teach us about the Arctic ways
Tommy started on today’s floating school
explaining the “Art of Suffering” on K2
a Nat Geo photographer on assignment to high alpine peaks
braving wind, avalanches, and snow that’s waist deep
Steff continued our education
making sure we all learned on our vacation
he claims that his home in Svalbard is one of few places anywhere
where you can walk out your front door and get eaten by a polar bear
but Steff says this freedom is great
forces you to be present instead of bear bait
on days at sea, people curl up to draw and read their books
or chat with new friends in all the ship’s nooks
the Young Explorers Club met
and collected a data set
they mapped our route in Svalbard
and created experiments to show permafrost thawed and frozen hard
Dennis enlightened us on arctic plants with wildly gesturing hands
some we’d seen on nearby lands
purple saxifrage is his favorite of all
and like all arctic plants, they are rather quite small
a special time for tea
was set up in the laundry
brandy and decorated tiny cakes
laid out beautifully for all to take
crew members showed from behind the scenes
of how the ship works, if you were keen
a musical jam with piano, guitars, and song
nothing could go wrong
ending with a conga line
made everyone feel fabulously fine
we sat down for dinner to eat
but Brent’s call brought us to our feet
outside we ran to see the whales
besides that, all else pales
such is the life on a Lindblad and Nat Geo expedition
we hope that you will make it your life’s next mission.
