A Minor Detail

Imagine trying to sail
Around the world
And neglecting to take
A Passport along with you,
But that is exactly
What we did.
In our rush to sail off
Into the wild blue yonder
From the Island of Hawaii,
That was one of many
Major and minor details
We, that is my brother,
My aunt and myself,
Failed to consider
Before leaving.
The opportunity
Was there, so we jumped,
And didn’t ask
Too many questions.
We just figured
We would resolve
The complications later.
It was something of an issue
When we got to Fanning Island,
A British protectorate,
And the local officials
Wouldn’t let us off the boat.
The worst indignity
For my brother and my
Teenage hearts
Was that they wouldn’t allow
The local girls
On the boat either.
A number of them
Took to tantalizing us
By swimming around
The boat and inviting us
To jump ship.
I am telling you,
We thought about it!
As soon as we got to
American Samoa
We applied for
Emergency passports.
We had spent the summer
Sailing down through
The South Pacific,
So I figured it was time
For me to head back
To the university
To continue my studies.
The only problem was
I couldn’t hang around
And wait until
The new passport arrived.
I just bought the tickets,
Gathered my meager belongings
And jumped on the first
Returning flight I could
Back to Hawaii.
To say that
The immigration people
Get a little uptight
When someone flies in
From overseas
Without a passport
Is an understatement.
They yanked me aside
Strip searched me,
And scrutinized my clothes
As well as my luggage.
They must have had me tell
The story of how I got there
Twenty-five times
Before they finally gave up
And let me go
Some four hours later.
The whole episode
Was kind of ridiculous,
But I was unstoppable then.
I wonder what would happen
To somebody if
They tried that today!