July 23, 2023

Commentary and a poem from Captain Paul Watson

As we return from a summer of opposition to Icelandic whaling and the horror of the Faroese Grindadrap, we discover yet another frivolous lawsuit from those who stole Sea Shepherd and ousted those of us who remained true to Sea Shepherd values and objectives.

Their intention is to bury us in legal bills and to dissuade us from our actions in defense of life and diversity in the sea.

Although they think they have what they wanted, they continue to be driven by jealousy, hatred,

And an irrational desire to control our movement.

As I said many times before:  An individual can be removed, an organization can be compromised and bought off, but a movement cannot be destroyed.

In 1977 I created a movement. That movement survives and will once again flourish. Of that I have no doubt.

I keep my center and my focus by allowing myself to keep my mind and emotions clear through

The unleashing of both thoughts and emotions into the words of poetry.

This is my poetic response to the latest assault by the mutineers.

They know who they are.

What do you do when your life’s work has been taken?

What do you do when they erase your history?

What do you do when they hijack your creations?

When your life has been torn apart and shaken?

When you have been tricked by arrogant sophistry?

Meant to undermine your long-held foundations?

What do you do when old friends betray you?

When they sell you out for power and money?

And continue to kick you when you’re down?

What you do is set your sights on something new,

Smile, be amused at how the situation is funny,

Because those who betrayed you are clowns.

Their deceit ripples through the airwaves,

Revealing their deception to humanity.

Extinguishing their credibility,

Guaranteeing shame until their graves,

Disturbing forever their tranquility.

They can’t deny their insidious game,

No matter how they justify their decisions.

Because decisions have consequences.

What they have taken, they can never claim,

They cannot survive on stolen visions,

Just to guarantee security and personal expenses.

The backstabbers know who they are,

No need to mention their dishonored names,

They sold their souls and changed the rules.

But mediocre never gets far.

We’ll let them play their duplicitous games,

For history will condemn them as fools.

As for me I’m a very happy clam,

I have the same supporters and a ship,

They have only the shadow of what I created,

These usurpers in Vermont and Amsterdam,

I retain the spirit of my authorship.

Despite the assets that were confiscated.

What we retain is our passion, our courage, and our focus,

These are tools of survival and success,

With these tools we shall see a new dawn,

As they catfish the public with hocus pocus.

And we emerge strong from the whole damn mess.

Now that the divisive lines have been drawn.

We retain our loyalty to those who cannot speak.

For them we will risk both life and freedom,

No matter the obstacles, no matter the cost.

Aggressive nonviolence is our technique,

And with that we continue to carpe diem,

For what is important has not been lost.