Baptism at Sea for dVerse Poets

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“Baptism on the line, also called equatorial baptism, is an alternative initiation ritual sometimes performed as a ship crosses the Equator, involving water baptism of passengers or crew who have never crossed the Equator before. The ceremony is sometimes explained as being an initiation into the court of King Neptune.”  Wikipedia

Baptism at Sea

We were happy at Christmas. Pale Andy didn’t dance, but moon makes even mouse-hair gold, and it was golden hair that swung to breeze. Out on the deck, baptized by salt spray, we watched dolphins spread out in a line, racing our boat to the equator and winning, flipping tails and turning in one fell swoop, synchronized in their returning to where we’d all just been.
But we went farther south, turned west, then up again on Africa’s farther coast.

We cross a fine line,
speeding into tomorrow,
courted by the sea.

This is Fran’s prompt for dVerse Poets: This week, Let’s give thanks! Write a haibun about one person, place, or thing for which you give thanks. It could be your favorite playlist or album, a holiday getaway, childhood home, or someone truly special to you. Whomever, or whatever, you decide to give thanks for, let your haibun manifest that to us!

For those new to haibun, the form consists of one to a few paragraphs of prose—usually written in the present tense—that evoke an experience and are often non-fictional/autobiographical. They may be preceded or followed by one or more haiku—nature-based, using a seasonal image—that complement without directly repeating what the prose stated. The haiku is a Japanese poetic form that consists of three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third.

10 thoughts on “Baptism at Sea for dVerse Poets”

    1. lifelessons Post author

      Must admit that after the horrors of Frosh initiation in highschool, where the made us all eat this horrible concoction that made me throw up, I hid out in my cabin during this hazing at sea. The poem was about later on at night after our tormenters were fast asleep. It was magical.

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  4. Beverly Crawford

    Thanks for the information about the equatorial baptism. Interesting, but no thanks says this landlubber! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

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