Seasick Genes

I have always
Loved the sea
And the feeling
Of a boat
Under sail.
The taste
Of the salty spray,
And the aroma
Of the ocean air
Excites
The romantic in me.
No matter
How stormy
The weather
Or how rough
The seas,
I am game
For the ride,
But others
Are not so hardy.
For Becky’s
Sixteenth birthday,
I chartered a sailboat
For a trip
Out to the
Channel Islands.
She invited a bunch
Of her friends,
And her younger sister,
Ruby,
Came along as well.
We had
A beautiful trip over,
And scouted
For whales
As we went
But they eluded
Our eyes.
We dropped anchor
In a shallow cove
And rowed
The dingy
To shore
Where we climbed
The rocky cliffs
And scoured
The tide pools.
Back aboard boat,
A delicious meal
Was prepared for us,
And we ate
In relaxed ecstasy,
Surrounded by sea gulls
Noisily begging
For handouts.
“Winged rats!”
The skipper called them,
“Pests of the sea,
Squawking buzzards
Of the isle.”
I gathered he wasn’t
Too fond of them.
On the way back,
The swells
Got a little rough,
And Ruby
Made the mistake
Of going below.
She came back up
A ghastly
Shade of green.
One by one,
All the other girls
Followed suit,
Retching their hearts out.
Unfortunately,
My wife who had
No stamina
For the sea,
Apparently
Passed her seasick genes
Down to our kids.
Each girl came back
With a profound
Appreciation for
The luxury
Of solid ground.
It would have been
A fantastic trip
And the perfect
Birthday outing
Had it not been
For those troublesome
Seasick genes.