Meditation: Galápagos Seas by Lorraine Caputo

Meditation: Galápagos Seas
by Lorraine Caputo

Surrounded by
xxxxxxxshattered coral
xxxxxxx& sea-burnished lava
I sit in the warm
xxxxxxxlate-afternoon sun
xxxxxxxlistening
to the tide rising, waves
xxxxxxxleaping over fractured
xxxxxxxboulders, waves rising
translucent green-blue
xxxxxxxto break, frothing, arriving
xxxxxxxto shore, before
relaxing

Red crabs cling
xxxxxxxto those black crags,
xxxxxxxthe surge breaking &
xxxxxxxfoaming over them
& out yonder
xxxxxxxtwo boobies skim
xxxxxxxthe waters, back & forth
xxxxxxxalong this ragged coast
one flies near, its
xxxxxxxturquoise feet tucked
xxxxxxxagainst its white belly

 Previously published in On Galápagos Shores (Chicago: dancing girl press, 2019).

PHOTO: Blue-footed booby on rocks with Sandy Lightfoot crabs in the Galápagos Islands. Photo by Mcwilli1, used by permission.

NOTE: The Galápagos Islands, part of the Republic of Ecuador, are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed on either side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere. Located 563 miles west of continental Ecuador, the islands are known for their large number of endemic species that were studied by Charles Darwin during the second voyage of HMS Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin’s theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: In my stays in the Galápagos Islands, I would often go to the beach after a day’s labor to do tai chi and to meditate. There I could escape from the human population and immerse myself in the native and endemic species.

PHOTO: Galápagos Islands. Photo by by Pen Ash, used by permission.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lorraine Caputo is a documentary poet, translator, and travel writer. Her work appears in over 180 journals in Canada, the US, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa, as well as in 12 chapbooks of poetry – including Caribbean Nights (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2014), Notes from the Patagonia (dancing girl press, 2017), and On Galápagos Shores (dancing girl press, 2019). She also pens travel pieces, with stories appearing in the anthologies Drive: Women’s True Stories from the Open Road (Seal Press, 2002) and Far-Flung and Foreign (Lowestoft Chronicle Press, 2012), and travel articles and guidebooks. In March 2011, the Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada honored her verse. She has done over 200 literary readings, from Alaska to the Patagonia, and journeys through Latin America, listening to the voices of the pueblos and Earth. You may follow her Latin America Wander travels on Facebook and at latinamericawander.wordpresscom.