An Ode to Neptune's Kingdom

When I was taking my DM course, our dive instructor asked us trainees to write a little paragraph describing why we wanted to become one.

I instinctively wrote the little poem below, but decided not to submit it in case it sounded silly and sentimental. After reading the many duties and role that a DM plays (e..g. to develop leadership abilities to supervise dive activities and assist instructors with student divers), that sealed the poem's fate of being totally irrelevant as to why I should become a DM!

I guess it made me realise why I was so fascinated by the marine world...

Below, something I drew on a divetrip to the Anambas oilrigs. This picture epitomises my state of total bliss, just sitting on a makeshift swing, surrounded by a colourful garden of softcoral, watching the fish...and mermen go by! *smile* wish I were a mermaid!

the sound of the sea

keeps haunting me

to take the leap

and plunge in deep

every land creature's wish

to move like fish

without the aid of oxygen

our feet on earth

our land of birth

in water, am but a stranger

Cousteau, our first ranger

with lungs, no gills

he invented frills

to go out on a limb

to make us swim

like our fellow dolphin

swim far, swim deep

the ocean's wealth, we may peep

but its order, we must keep

else it will die in sleep

we need to know

the highs and lows

the ebb and flow

of Neptune's kingdom

so comb the sea

for knowledge from a to z

so one can drift and drift and drift

to the edge of the reef's cliff

to remain

and still be sane

to spread this sensation

to the next generation

of mermen and mermaids

to master my dive

till we're husband and wife