Thanks for Gene's poem, Lynn. I enjoyed.  And it reminded me of something I
wrote many years ago for the Newsletter of the Lousiana Malacological
Society following a trip.  I am not sure it is poetry as it doesn't rhyme,
but isn't that what is called  free verse?
 
FEELINGS ON A TRIP TO MICRONESIA
 
Happiness is going to Micronesia.
Joy is arriving in Los Angeles where the trip starts and I meet old friends.
Weariness is a 12-hour flight from LA to Guam.
Extasy is stretching out on a bed in the Guam Hilton Hotel.
Exultation is arriving at the bottom of a long, streep hill down to Cetti
Bay on Guan, where
      I  was told there are Cyrpaea mappa.
Disgust is having to climb back up that same hill without any mappa.
Delight is seeing the beautiful new Palau Pacific Resort.
Fulfullment is, on my first day in Palau, completely filling my collecting bag.
Frustration is practically everyone but me finding Lambis lambis on Debed
Beach, Peleliu.
Contentment is, 2 days later, picking up 12 lambis on Neco Island,
spreading them out on
      the beach and selecting the 4 I want to keep.
Apprehension is reluctantly poking a gooey red blob.
Amazement is having that red blob disappear to reveal a Cypraea linacina.
Regretfulness is having to leave Palau before I have found a Lambis charagra.
Optimism is looking ahead to the goodies on Rota and Tinian.
Disappointment is not finding much on Rota.
Awe is finding a live 6 3/4" Conus leopardus on Tinian.
Disbelief is, 5 minutes after finding the leopardus, pulling a US $10 bill
out from under a
      rock in 10 feet of water.
Depression is leaving Tinian and realizing the end of the trip is fast
approaching and I
     have not found that charagra.
Gratification is finally, the last day back on Guan, uncovering something
worthwhile by
     fanning - big Terebra guttata, sublata and Oliva annulata.
And Fear is when I realize that my shells may not fit in my luggage.
And Indescribable Relief  is when they do.
 
Betty Jean, The Tall One