The Siren's Song

Sailor I can't claim to be, yet I heard the siren's call, when I first beheld the tower of steel rising o'er blue waves so tall. Miles beyond where man can walk, and miles deeper still, the hand of our collective race can still exert its will. Past azure depths, past murky gloom, past miles of rock, to history's tomb. And - oh! - what surges in the soul! What wonders to behold, that drives the heart of enterprise as we chase down the gold. Strength of iron, song of steel - how can it be such things are real? Power of titans brought to bear with precision close as a mother's care. And if it were gift from the stars, it might not seem so strange. But, lo, men as I have fashioned it - How glorious our range! Millennia of knowledge, centuries of industry, decades of skills applied for years, to bring such a thing to be. And oh the lives that fashioned it! Designed it, built it strong, and keep it living on the seas to sing its siren song. Written 12 May 2023 on helicopter ride from Gulf of Mexico to Houma, LA after tour of the Valaris DS-16 drillship