A Speech Delivered On Our Ship Leaving The Port

As we embark on this journey
Not knowing the final port,
Nor the conditions of the seas,
Whether they will be charitable to us
or not,

Nor knowing, if we must confront an iceberg,
Whether it would make a fatal indentation
in the bow,
Or if we would somehow steer a course
To less treacherous waters,

and as this bottle is hurled against the stern,
Let us hope for a clean smash.
Let each shard of glass that shatters
Be another malicious force
that falls into the ocean and disintegrates.

Let the winds carry us, gently.