Excursion: The Cruise Ship Chronicles

by Jake Sheff

“Forget old or young; I grow eternal.”

– graffiti on the nude beach’s billboard

The trip around the island on mopeds,

from St. Martin to St. Maarten

and back, was nearly ninety minutes.

The nude beach, with pockets of

misunderestimation, took

less time than we’d expected.

But normally time produces

metaphors at an astonishing rate,

so we scarfed down lobster

claws and Dutch beer with

road to spare. To call the sun

exaggerating that day would be

an understatement, but two

beers would have been foolish;

the unfamiliar vehicles

and territory would not become

a twenty-year-old song

that quickly. Let’s get back

to waging war against war, aware

of the waves out there, from

places that don’t need Tuesdays.