As we start to think about travel once again, our world has been linked to poetry for centuries and is able to transport us to somewhere different, somewhere new, somewhere we would rather be.
On World Poetry Day, we thought it would be nice to reintroduce you to the world of cruising, as we await news on how cruises will restart in the next couple of months.
This is a poem by the acclaimed Pam Ayres, who took a cruise across the Atlantic with P&O Cruises on their ship Aurora, and this is her own take on cruising:
“Aurora! Oh Aurora! She’s so beautiful and strong!
Her decor so exquisite and her corridors so – long
I was stopped when I came on, told where to stand and photographed
With all my bags and baggages, I’ve never looked so Daft!
We are cruising on Aurora where with luxury and ease
We slip between the continents across the seven seas
We’re sailing for America upon a Western track
And I haven’t got a clue which is the front and which the back.
We had a little fracas when unpacking all our clothes
The woman needs the hanging space, everybody knows!
But all has been resolved and there is harmony once more
I’ve got thirty seven hangers and he’s settled for a drawer
The motion of the vessel and the rolling of the sea
The creaking of the cabin’s like a lullaby to me
The curving of the planet and the passage of the sun
The terrifying toilet where you flick the switch and run
I love the sunny mornings and I love the humid nights
The kindness of the stewards, the young officers in whites
I watch Jhon Tabbut-McCarthy as I come back from the gym
I’m not interested in travel, but I like the look of him!
The choices! The dilemma of a holiday at sea
Of all the bright activities, which are the ones for me?
Bridge? Keep fit? Line Dancing? Table Tennis? Make a Flower?
Or eat twenty-seven courses and pass out for half an hour!
I like the weather forecast and the briefings from the Bridge,
That terrifying stuff about the mid-Atlantic ridge
I hope we never see again the sick bags on the stairs,
Goodbye and happy cruising! Yours sincerely, Pam Ayres
