Discovery by Adam Rutter

  Schooner in full sail                                                                                              Photo: Liz Obadina

A raft casts ashore,

Leaving a tropical island

To embark on epic voyages

Across unknown waters.

The wind blows a sail,

Carrying sea pioneers

To a new discovery.

The island sinks below the horizon,

A crimson red sun sinks into the ocean

Constellations rise above the sea.

Venus – the brightest star

Guides the pioneers to new destinations,

A rudder turns the sail towards another world

Where humans have never set foot on.

The raft peaks and troughs with the waves,

The sail swats from side to side,

Counterbalances wave crests.

The Milky Way, a scarf-like

Ribbon dotted with stars,

Stretches across the sky,

A galactic archway for the

Pioneers to enter the other world.

The pioneers watch the constellations

Slide across the heavens,

Patterns changing, evolving,

A cosmic navigation for these seafaring nomads

To map the stars

On this vast ocean.

The stars fade as twilight skies glow blue-grey hues on the water.

The crimson red sun rises above

The ocean

Sheds light on their discovery;

A new island.