A Monument to Hubris

Photo courtesy of NOAA

Below, where the water will crush

And the barnacle will feast

Where the light will not reach,

Stretched out across a mile of sand

Entombed in dark water swirling

With strange fins and tubes

Lies, in pieces, scattered,

A great monument to hubris.

That men should dare to brave the sea

Its lilting tides, its swirling storms

The vastness of its huge expanse and

The icy bergs that float within,

The creatures that swim unseen,

That we would dare to tame the wave

And ride its powerful surge across the world

Is an act of bravery, yes,

But yes, an act of madness.

For even with the greatest tools

And the strongest materials

And the most accurate systems

And the most capable captains

The ocean can still carelessly claim the lives

Of those who dare cross the depths.

For the sea is a ravenous, beautiful beast

That lures with a song and devours with a silence

As all who have gone down with the ship

Have come to know.


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