The Last Post

Each day the expedition team provided us with an itinerary of the day's events.  On that itinerary they always included a quotation which often characterized the day's events.  It was a lovely way to bring art into what otherwise may have seemed an overly scientific experience.  On the last day of the trip a member of the expedition team read aloud the following poem.  I thought it made a very nice close to what had been an extraordinary experience.

I, the albatross that waits for you at the end of the world...

I, the forgotten soul of the sailors lost that crossed Cape Horn from all the seas of the 

world.

But die they did not

in the fierce waves,

for today towards eternity

in my wings they soar

in the last crevice

of the Antarctic winds.

Sara Vial

December 1992