Family Poems from Kids Sea Camp family dive vacations. This is a very special part of our Kids Sea Camp dive trips. Each family writes and reads a poem or a song at the end of every week at KSC. The Family poems night is a celebration of creativity, the ocean, family, and Kids Sea Camp.
Chris’s Poem (A Shout Out to Sam’s Crew)
My Man Marc, the mix-master of logistics
Jessie knows everything you want to know, including the statistics
Frenchy, his care was quite supér
Sharon laughing like a hyena with long blonde hair
Eve, she’s pretty hip, even with a big fat lip
Sergi, when he dives, he really knows how to let it rip
RD always got us where we wanted to go
Lulu expertly guided us way down below
Bell… who says Palau is my office every day
and Ray, who truly knows the Palaun way…
Thank you to SAM and the whole Sam’s Crew – you guys were awesome !
Susan’s Poem (haiku):
WWII wrecks, yeah?!
Destroyed the natural beauty
Thank you Palau Pledge
AYUDAME
A poem from mother earth to the human race…
Help me my children
I’m dying you see
There’s coal in the air
And plastic in the sea
I’m hot and I’m choking from all that you’ve done
To take a lesson from your book “go get me a gun”!
4 billion years in the making
(I know some get confused)
And here we are
You took all the land and covered it with tar.
You cut down the forests of mangroves and trees,
And little by little you brought life to its knees
My oceans are full
Of the crap you’ve put there.
I had filled them with fish but now they are bare.
You caught them by the billions
And some of them you ate
But from others you made oil and lipstick and fertilizer and pet food and vitamin supplements, and glue, and jewelry, and nail polish and sandpaper, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera
I gave you a brain that nothing can match
But what you have done with it has been sad to watch
Now I know there’s been cool stuff you invented like medicine and paint
Yea ok and the Avengers and Star Wars and Woody the Saint.
But you learned early on how to dig, and dig deep,
You came up with coal, oil and gas and
Enough money to make Solomon weep.
But the greenbacks have drawbacks
And now it’s apparent
that that stuff from the ground
Is an environmental accelerant
But the earth doesn’t care
Whether you make it or not
If you poison yourselves
It cares not a jot.
Life will go on, just in a different form but
The human race will no longer be the norm.
So now to Kids Sea Camp a shimmering light of
Hope and education to take forward the fight.
We’ve had lot’s of fun to be sure and seen amazing things
We’ve met many cool families (some of which can sing)
So thanks to Margo and Tom for making it so
But thank you to all the instructors and educators
Who play a huge role
In shaping young minds and preparing their hearts
For the struggle ahead by bearing witness
to both the beauty and destruction of all our surrounds.
Your final gifts, my dear human race
Your brains and your children
May be the last you will ever be given.
So listen well and hold fast.
Get your shit together or
You too, will soon be in the past.
ET3 Mitchell Ayer on CGC Bibb 1971-1974
The story I tell is true
About the finest cutter to sail the ocean blue
In the darkest days of World War II
In nineteen hundred and forty three
Wolfpacks of U-boats prowled Atlantic seas
Looking to send freighters to their doom
Sailors fearing the Nazi torpedo’s deadly boom
The ships gathered together in convoy groups
Surrounded by cutters to protect the troops
An evil U-boat torpedoed the freighter Mallory
Dumping men in waters icy
The cutter Bibb sped to their rescue
Before the cold waters turned the men blue
The convoy commander signaled “Come back, come back”
For I fear the wolfpack’s deadly attack
But the Bibb was skippered by Captain Raney
Who answered “Not turning back, no sirree”
There our boys in the sea
From the sunken ship the Mallory
The Bibb’s brave crew
Rescued a total of two hundred and two
Many years later I served on this warrior of the sea
And met the men of the Mallory
The old salts shook my hand saying
“Thank you, thank you for coming back for me”
The Bibb still serves in the Florida Keys
As a reef hotel in the deep blue seas
Her sister Duane sits by her side
As they still stand watch from tide to tide
ET3 Mitchell Ayer on CGC Bibb 1971-1974
Mitchell Ayer (copyright)
Lillyana McGowan
My first dive I saw a white fish with a brown stripe
I was so excited my heart took flight
We had so much fun sitting on the front of the boat
That’s when my heart began to float
When I first hit the sea floor I was amazed and all in wonder
With my ears popping away it took me a while to get under
When I laid down in bed, like the waves I was still rocking
I was like a boat not returning for docking
An urchin I spotted on my first night dive
I’ve never felt so new and alive
This experience has been so eye opening and amazing
Even at night in the pool I back float stargazing
In my passport I have my first stamp
Thank you everyone and Kids Sea Camp
Kai’s Poem
As we arrived at Oslob nobody could sit
When we hear we needed a briefing some people had fits
All of us jump into the water
Only a bathing suit needed it couldn’t be hotter
As we look down at the sandy reef
A whale shark emerges from beneath
Trying to keep up and stay away from the tail
So we can take cool photos and not get nailed
Diving down to take a cool pic
The shark doesn’t notice us as if we were ticks
All the bubbles no one can see
Holy crap there’s one under me
All you can do is swim around
And try not to get hit by 100,000 pounds
As you watch and observe the huge things eat
You realize they’re kind of neat
How can a whale so big eat something so small without a fuss
Then grow as big as a city bus
At last it’s been 30 minutes and it’s time to go
Everyone shouts woah I don’t think so
On the way back to the boat the last one comes up to say bye
And you truly see that to them your nothing bigger than a fly
As it descends into the deep
It leaves a great memory for you to keep
Diving at Night:
By James Gilmore
Stealthily hiding in the waving soft coral
A spotted moray looks for a bite
Then lithering along the sandy bottom
A sharptail eel slips away from sight
At last looking out from its daytime home
A Chain Moray comes out for the night
So many varieties of crustaceans to be seen
Some in abundance while others quite rare
Countless arrow crabs and banded coral shrimp curiously look on
With their antennae and tiny pincers ready, they stare
Ready to clean and take those pesky parasites away
Purple cleaner shrimp surprisingly came as a pair
Finally three new crabs seen on this adventure
Batwing crabs, a Hairy Clinging Crab and a Nimble Spray Crab make this trip hard to compare
As we look to end this literary torture
And hoping you forgive its writer for a few more lines
As there were too many things seen and not enough rhymes
A few more favorite moments together
That high five flyby in the dark
And finally the Avatar movie-like experience watching Ostracods
Performing their dance in the dark
All while diving at night!
Hello Gramma, hello Gramps
Hello Gramma Hello Gramps,
Here I am at Kids Sea Camp
Camp is very entertaining
I just wish they would provide us towels daily
Hello Gramma, Hello Gram
How is life with Instagram?
Here we unplug, leave the rat race
Wonder if non-diver activities will take place
I shouldn’t moan, don’t want to piss and moan
But cruise ship folks are rude
At least we have our separate food
Hello Grammy and Grampy,
My tummy feels a little crampy
Don’t Drink the water or so they tell me
What did I do to deserve dysentery
Instead of Woody we have Patric
Good thing is he’s fantastic
He excels at all his duties
Except for joining in karaoke
I shouldn’t groan, I really don’t want to piss and moan
But I can’t post any pics
At least i’ll get some from Patric
Well I guess I should be going
Dives are nice here, skills are growing
All the rest of my companions
Take each day in stride like champions
We’ve seen lots of pretty fishes
And the dive sites exceed our wishes
We’re so happy. Dear Grammy and Gramps
Please send us next year to Kids Sea Camp!
Lloyd Kaufman – Reflections
I look at the reflections in the mirror
A vision I have taken from the past
I can feel my heart growing nearer
To home
Early 2004 my bride and I
Took to the sea on our first dive adventure
A little one 4 years old
At home
Sold for life my partner and I
Traveled the Caribbean ocean when we could
While the family welcomed another
To home
As the years past the wife and I
Continued to frolic in the warm waters
While the little ones yearned for the same
From home
2010 arrives and the eldest
Takes to the quarries
For open water certification
At home
Luck would have and a little research too
A growing company of like minded folks
Offering underwater family adventure far
From home
Both boys took to the water like fish
Earning accolades from the family divers
And supplemental education
At home
At 18 and 14 and bride and I at midlife
Reflection is natural
Aided by many years of accessible photographs
On the road or at home
As we near the time where our boys
Start to leave, wonderment of preparedness
Abound and wonderment of returning
To home
Cliches notwithstanding I do have hope
That the adventures these young men
Have encountered along the way will bring fondness
Of their home
Kudos to kids sea camp and family divers
For being a willing participant in the journey
It’s not nearly done yet as we prepare for our journey
Back home.
St Lucia, Anse Chastenet, and Scuba St Lucia
Have earned our forth kids sea camp visit and 7th visit overall
Which easily makes it our second home away
From home
So thanks abound to kids sea camp
In hearing my reflections and aiding in the adventures
That our family will continue to enjoy
in our ocean
Home
Poem Hikeu by Saralyn Lehman
Open divers log
Then forget where I have been
Then remember again
Ellie
There was once a girl Ellie Bean
Who loved keeping the ocean floor clean
Mesh bag in her hand she finds trash in the sand
And the result is a reef that’s serene.
Abel
There was once a boy with blond hair
who could flip and swim with much flair
He flew down to St. Lucia
To learn how to Scuba
And became a master diver extraordinaire!
Gianni
There was once a diver named G
who loved to be upside down in the sea
She has fun with her friends
looks at fish like they’re gems
A child of Neptune is she
The forest is always greener
From the Kuppenheimer room.
If you can’t escape this heat then
You’ll end up inside a tomb.
Just look at the beach around you,
Put up a yellow flag
If Hayden steals that cocktail,
It’s gonna make him gag.
Uh oh
Where is j-t
Where is j-t
He’s not on the boat
And we gotta float
Where is j-t?
We’d like to thank Allie Gigi and Jay
For taking us diving every day
Creating lion fish kills
It was a thrillah
Under the sea.
Our certified PADI divers
Cooper, Macky, Maddie, Sav
Cuz now in the ocean blue
A PADI card they have.
Now the dads are getting old now
And they’re heads are getting bare.
OH QUICK look at that gage now
Oh crap I’m out of air.
UH OH
I have to pee
I have to pee
Grant is drinking
Darcy is sinking
Lime and honey!
I love the fishies in the bay
Kim is a vegan now NO WAY!
Bump it for Hayden
Cooper is playin
Where we can’t see.
The tea Macky’s spillin
The Latin is chillin
Grant has a girlfriend
He got her at church camp
The certs we have earned
The facts I have learned
Micronesia is smaller than nesia
The fish guy has fish
I ordered that dish
The ears have the pain
The sky has the rain
Keither and brad
To leave here is sad
It’s gazpacho time!
Thank you family
Thank you family
Brings up the past
The time goes by fast
Those dads were crazy!!
What do they got a shining star
We’ve got Bucknell’s own K-D-R
Turtles are hatching
Able is smashing
That’s why it’s coolah
Down in St.Lucia
Frat guys are meeting
Their hair is receding
Thank you familyyyyyyyyy
Lucky lucky lionfish
Come and swim with me
Lucky lucky lionfish
It was meant to be
Lucky lucky lionfish
Have no fear
Lucky lucky lionfish
Daddy is not here
Lucky lucky lionfish
You don’t see a spear
Lucky lucky lionfish
No one will come near
Lucky lucky lionfish
You are safe this year
Lucky lucky lionfish
Daddy is not here in Belize
By: Abby Zanelli
Thanksgiving in Bonaire with KSC was so cool,
And I got to skip 3 days of school.
My dad said it was a life lesson,
So I came tol get my advanced certification.
I met my instructors, Lars and Menno,
And quickly got some gear for a demo.
I learned to find directions,
With a compass and sea formations.
I also got a camera to try
And spend my dive as a spy
Some amazing shots were had
So you better watch out Brad!
My first night dive was quite exciting,
And nothing at all frightening.
My dad lent me his video light,
Which turned darkness into daylight.
Not happy was a moray eel,
hissing at me for how I made it feel.
So I turned down the brightness,
and used a red light for politeness,
Making happy the sea creatures
which now could sleep without seizures
Best of all, was beating my dad
By finding an octopus, a seahorse and a crab
After my dives, I met with my new friends,
To jump off the wall for rapid descends
Though we never touched the bottom
My dad constantly worried about hitting the rocks with our bottoms
Donkeys were fed some moldy bread,
but some wanted some fingers instead
The soccer match was run, run, run
But leaving behind the out-of-breath adults was so much fun
Woody, Woody, Woody leaves you guessing,
About his next underwater dressing.
Santa Claus and a tuxedo,
Maybe next time a torpedo?
Finally, I say thank you to Margo and Tom,
For making this vacation the bomb
(Set to phrasing and lyrical styling of "the Gunner's Dream" by Roger Waters)
Floating down, to the ocean floor
Memories come rushing to great me once more.
But in the space between the corals
And the vis limit of the ocean blue
I had a dream
I had a dream
Dolphin culls
Plastic trash
Seems inevitable that many species are going to crash
With 24 hour news and documentaries singing the blues
We witness all the signs
And many still deny
But we hold on to the teachings of groups like PADI and kids sea camp
We take a surface breathe
And hold on to the dream
A place to swim
Good food to eat
A place where buddy dive allow all species safety on the reef
Where we can speak out loud
About our ocean fears
And no one will discount observable science with political rhetoric as we witness the beauty offered...above and below
We can relax
with surface interval to the max
Friends and family abound, common goals and good all around
And with all goodwill shown my mind is at ease
That our children will save the seas
All of our children will save the seas
Night after night
Going round and round my brain
This dream cannot be in vain
In the corner of this beautiful dive resort
The diver sleeps tonight.
What's done is done
We cannot just write off this final scene
Take heed of the dream
Take heed.
No Time for TV but,
The Plane, the plane
24 hours later,
Night of the Living Dead
Zombies disembark
Next Morning-
The love boat, oops, I mean, the dive boat at the dock.
Julie, aka, social director Marc
Sets the tone for the day with a smile.
Some need a bit of liquid courage but where is Isaac?
New season of Kids Shark Week begins.
Survivor Palau filmed here-
Kids Sea Camp survived Blue Corner, Uulong Channel & more
No tears or drama in this
Paradise, no commercials either
Only great new friends and wonderful memories.
Thank you Sam's & KSC.
Kids Sea Camp! Kids Sea Camp, Kids Sea Camp!
I want to dive with Kids Sea Camp at Sams Tours in Palau.
I want to see some manta rays at the German Channel.
I say shark. You say “ray”.
I say “boat”. You say “bay”.
White tips were always my thing, and I do like starfish.
Kids Sea Camp! Kids Sea Camp! Kids Sea Camp!
I want to dive with Kids Sea Camp.
I want to dive right now.
I want to dive Kids Sea Camp, diving in Palau.
The best diving is coming your way, so forget about your troubles, oh yeah!
The Geall sisters are diving today, so look-out for those beauties in BCDs.
Ready Set! Let’s Dive!
While in Belau our journey begins for some summer fun
Where the Rays can amaze whether manta or Sun
We had an awesome driver named Swell
He drove us downtown and treated us well
Papaya and Twix
for Greg will never mix
Kayak in the water to climb a tree,
but top we will never see
Half moon, full moon, blood moon
If you pay attention you will escape the hidden lagoon
Every day is a new surprise
Just after you see the sun rise
First you must start with a cup of coffee
Then you run down to the hotel lobby
When you have hunger after a triple dive
Enjoy a 10 course meal at Elilai (Ellie lie)
These 10 days are coming to a close
Which destination comes next - no-one knows
Everybody was scuba diving
Those fish were fast as lightening
The sharks were a little bit frightening
Of mantas there were lots of sightings!
There were funky dive masters
In funky dive suits
They were taking me up
They were taking me down
It's an underwater art
And everybody knows their part
Swimming in pairs
While drinking in air.
Everybody was scuba diving
Those fish were fast as lightening
The sharks were a little bit frightening
Of mantas there were lots of sightings!
I just want to be a Seal
La La-La La
I just want to be a Seal
La La-La La
At Kids Sea Camp in the Philippines
I just want to be a Seal
I don’t want to be a Shark, No!
I don’t want to be a Shark, No!
Because they don’t have the cool bark
I don’t want to be a Shark, No!
Don’t want to be a manatee
Don’t want to be a manatee
‘Cause they aint in the Visayan Sea, Nope
Don’t want to be a manatee.
Diving in the Philippines
With Mamas Biggs, Tess and Suzette
There’s nothing we have needed
That they couldn’t
Somehow get
Diving in the Philippines
We braved jellyfish with some dread
But all of that was worth it
For Margo’s shot of three whale sharks, Dan
And his conehead
Diving in the Philippines
Competed with time in Vida spa
We all indulged quite heavily
But no one more than
Our mascot and her ma
Diving in the Philippines
Is like glimpsing parts of heaven
But nothing quite compared
To seeing Raymond
In his new Adidas, size eleven
Diving in the Philippines
Has been an experience of our lifetimes
Thank you all for the laughs and conversations
And to Kids Sea Camp
For the chance to share these rhymes
Kids Sea Camp Bonaire
Was just right for this brothers’ pair
Always be nice to a diver
We know places where nobody can find you
Sunday was the first day of it all
Everyone’s excitement was either too big or too small
There was introductions and diving to be done
We all had fun, that first day
And there were more adventures on the way!
For the rest of the week, there were activities galore
From night diving to tubing from kayaking and more!
I don’t think anyone could bore!
It was even tough to stay alive in Woody’s zombie dive
When Saturday comes, pack up your stuff,
The fun had gone on for enough,
Come on everybody, let’s say farewell,
Goodbye, Kids Sea Camp Bonaire, See you next year!
My first Kids Sea Camp in here
The ocean adventure is near,
But first I must know the facts
From Pepe, Menno and Dax
Got my snorkel
Got my mask
Got my gear, I know the tasks
With my friends and teachers,
We leave behind the land and beaches
To the jungle down below, we search for animals galore
Lions – Parrots – Porcupine fish and more
My parents, they share,
Of the seahorse and frogfish they stare
And I can’t wait to see
With my own eyes and BCD
… But … if it weren’t for my darn ear,
I’d be able to clear
I guess I’ll be back to Kids Sea Camp again next year
- Dara, Clay, & Sierra Smith
P- pretty
R- rad
E- elegant
T- tall
T-talented
Y- yogurt lover
L-loveful
I- intelligent
L- likeable
L- laughing
Y-yellow lover
Aly is so pretty
She is so witty
I asked her to marry me
And she said maybe
The seaweed is always greener
When you go with KSC
There’s plenty of scuba diving
And wonderful things to see
They’ll take you to see the island
And bring lots of things to you
Fire dancers and Garifuna
The culture will shine right through
{chorus} Under the sea – under the sea
Life is just better down where its wetter take it from me
You’ll see the turtles and the rays
You’ll see the chorals and the bays
Whether you’re boating or your just floating
Under the sea!
We came to the Mayan Princess
On beautiful Roatan
We dove with the Mayan Divers
And met other scuba fans
Aly, Robbie, Lilly and all staff
They made sure that fun was had
And woody led zombie diving
When he didn’t feel so bad!
{chorus}
So now that we’ve come to Friday
The day we must pack our gear
We wont have to say ‘good bye’
Instead we say ‘see you next year’
So many destinations
And marvelous sights to see
Are waiting the whole world over
Lets go there with KSC!
Turtles eating coral and groupers hanging out with me,
Octopus gliding through the night that I barely see,
Meeting new people who go diving with me.
(If you like pina coladas)
These are a few of my favorite things.
When the ears hurt,
When the fish hide,
When the jellies sting.
I simply remember my favorite things... and then I don't feel, so bad.
Here are the poems from the summer weeks of Kids Sea Camp in the Philippines in 2017. Kids Sea Camp hosts a poetry presentations every Friday night at the closing celebration.
Dive it off
By the Geall family
I wake up at 6, to make sure I don’t miss,
my dive boat mmm, my dive boat mmm.
They may think I’m crazy, well they ain’t wrong baby,
crazy for Kids Sea Camp mmm, crazy for Kids Sea Camp.
So I keep diving can’t stop, won’t stop diving.
It’s like I got the ocean in my mind, saying it’s gonna be alright, cause the fish are gonna
swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, swim,
and the turtles are gonna flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, flap.
Yeah I’m just gonna — dive, dive, dive, dive, dive
I’m diving on my own diving, on my own got my friends here,
so I not alone, so I’m not alone,
that’s what they don’t know, mmm, and that’s they know mmm
(Chorus) I dive it off, I dive it off, I dive it off, I dive it off
Hey, Hey, Hey just think while you’ve been getting down and out,
about the Lionfish and the dirty, dirty crown of thrones of this world
You could’ve been getting down to 40 feet.
My old friend brought her new dive gear she’s like “Oh My Gosh”
I’m just gonna dive to the fella over there with the really good hair,
won’t you come on over now and we can dive, dive, dive.
(Chorus) I dive it off, I dive it off, I dive it off, I dive it off
Here are the poems from the Kids Sea Camp week. Kids Sea Camp has a poetry presentation every Friday night at the closing celebration.
Out of the blue
The Baylee Adair family
Out of the blue
Into the ocean
All so brand-new
Into more blue
Under the sea
Just me and you, feeling so free
Deeper into the ocean blue
To black to dark
Nothing here for me and you.
Then gliding through the blue, a Manta!
So real and so true, a Manta!
Now I’m here
Just me and you
Under the sea in the ocean blue.
Good night Palau
The McClure family
Goodnight Palau with your beautiful sea,
Goodnight to the divers, that’s you and that’s me.
Goodnight Milky Way with your white mud and day,
Goodnight to yet another wonderful day.
Goodnight little jellies in Jellyfish lake,
Goodnight birthday kids and chocolate cake.
Goodnight Blue Corner and the late flying there,
Goodnight to the sharks, and walls, oh so fair!
Goodnight Ulong Channel, away we all go!
Goodnight simple life, with its ebb and it’s flow.
Goodnight sing mermaids and your underwater flips,
Goodnight to our new friends — until our next trip.
Goodnight Sam’s, Frazier, Margo and Tom,
This trip to Palau has truly been the bomb.
Kids Sea Camp isn’t one color it’s a rainbow
Kids Sea Camp isn’t one color it’s a rainbow.
Finding our Scuba Sensei
The Quast & Jones family ( write about finding their scuba sensei in Palau.)
There once was a gray shark for Nantucket
Some Mandarin fish in a bucket,
Dreaming of fish
By The Abad Santos family (The Santos family have been to over six family weeks with Kids Sea Camp. They dream of fish every year.)