The Captain’s Table
In setting out on exploratory
Voyages, strict British naval tradition
Required that all designated Captains
Maintain no contact with the ordinary
Staff on board. Voyages were long
Lasted many lonely years. The prolonged
Isolation caused severe nervous breakdowns
And Fitzroy was worried. He had known
His family history of suicide and the previous
Skipper had shot himself. Unable to trust
Himself, he needed a bright companion,
A talkative naturalist, someone
At his table, so he would not dine single.
He invited Darwin aboard the Beagle.
Innisfree 43
A Closer Look:
Pramod Lad was born in India and has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Cornell University. He was a
scientist at the National Institutes of Health. His poems have been accepted in Wilderness
house, Eclectica magazine, the Innisfree poetry Journal, Pulsebeat Poetry Journal, Litbreak
Magazine, Amethyst Review, Soul Forte. Neologism, Verse Virtual, Umbrella Factory, Raven
Review, and elsewhere.