Isla San Jose

A vermilion glow bathed Isla San Jose with radiance this early dawn,
Some greeted the morning sights, with a barely stifled yawn.
Could we be blasé? Surrounded by these wonderous sights and sounds?
Or did we stay up a bit too late on the beach, where ice cream and songs did abound?

Through the desert some walked a slow mosey, poking into crevices and flowers,
Lizards sunning, snakes darting, birds singing, we could keep going for hours!
But the sun beat down upon us, and we started to wilt and totter,
Quick! Into your wetsuits, grab your flippers! It’s time to jump in the water!

Wide-eyed balloon fish stared at us, with perpetual looks of surprise,
Sea stars, urchins, yellow, blue and striped fish, all before our eyes.
Mike was below us filming, while sea lions played without care,
Hey, I’m sucking down seawater, while he’s down there breathing dry air!

What’s the purple streak in the water? Swimming and bobbing and splashing?
Oh wait, why, that’s our Billie! Listen, she snorkels while laughing!
She leapt from the side of the Zodiac, to join the fish in a swim,
Looking herself a little picidian, outfitted in snorkel, sans fins.

A dwarf sperm whale popped up a dorsal, a cute but shy little fellow,
Of course to me he’s just a rumor, as my head was nestled in my pillow.
The big guys came next in the lineup, full-sized sperm whales with distinct angular blows,
Blowholes slid off the top left side of their foreheads, looking like bellybuttons that opened and closed.

A grand finale was called for, with flukes at twelve off the bow,
Squinting into the sunset came the question, “Which end are we looking at now?”
Whales, dolphins, cacti and chocolate, so much to absorb in seven days,
We need to come back again next year, and continue our exploratory ways.