The Wine Dark Sea.
11/20/2023 Exploring the ship last night, I wandered on a promenade deck to a little crook at the back of the ship, where you could watch the water funnel out in bright, twisting tunnels. Looking over the cliff of a ship like that, these lines always come to mind: “On the edge of safety/That’s where I find peace/Where the black sands/Meet the raging sea.” I sit down with my legs beside me, and lean my head against the rail. Behind me, the cruise ship – a floating testament to everything that is humanity, with its laughter, desire, jealousy, greed, joy, love, hate, determination, oppressed and oppressor. In front of me, everything that humanity has no choice, no control over; the absolute depths of the ocean, the endless churning of the universe; death. There is as much mystery and wonder there as in the distant galaxies, and we stare down into the wine dark sea with the same ignorance, and same strange tug towards oblivion, as we stare up at the stars. That tug tries to tell you – we a...