Oldest Albatross

Across the oceans crossing ferocious dark barriers of time

I've floated from Midway Atoll with fervent waves that chime

humming melodies of my journeys to distant lands

making my own way through colourful windy strands.

I opened my eyes on a swaying grassland in recluse

azure horizon kissing shades of mauve golden hues

sprinkled on sand long back as I took my first flight

I remember soaring with lamb white clouds so bright.

Flew across different continents in changing seasons

my little ones merge my legacy with joyous reasons

I sing of raging storms and bravery on ancient beacons

on voyages I calm scared souls when their spirit weakens.

I find my way back home to meet my beloved every year

my memories of wetland behind fierceness I hold dear

recognized as the oldest living wild bird I spread love

known as 'Wisdom' I still live to soar freely high above.

*The oldest living wild bird(banded) is a female Laysan albatross that nests within the world's largest albatross colony on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Hawaiian islands. She is at least 69 years old and is believed to have laid nearly 40 eggs over her life. She survived a tsunami and was first recognized in 1956 then again over a span of many years(through her band). In 2006, she was named 'Wisdom' as a symbol of hope for all species that depend upon the ocean to survive.*

**This poem has been written using the literary device Personification in which human characteristics are attributed to nonhuman things. Personification offers the poet a way to give the world life and motion by assigning familiar human behaviors and emotions to animals, inanimate objects, and abstract ideas. I have personified as a bird over here.**