Raise a glass - two years and two months on
A poem to acknowledge and celebrate every person within the Five Deeps Expedition Team for their contribution.
Inspired by citations of merit, a method used in society to award recognition of an accomplishment. These certificates fail to truely articulate why the accomplishment and those involved deserve recognition - and maybe those institutions don't really understand the detail or work required to be exemplary.
Our society issues certificates from birth to death, covering education, culture and sports and everything inbetween - very generic and somewhat meaningless. In response I have written my acknowledgment of the team, encompassing what I witnessed. It is the first piece of poetry I've wanted to write. It's heartfelt, honest and my opinion.
A printed A4 certificate doesn't represent the respect I feel a certificate should bestow. My poetic certificate is handwritten over a typewritter font using carbon paper of a lovely blue ink tone as recognition of the incremental steps we've taken away from the handwritten, ink, the patience to copy and loss of manual and mechanical processes.
The certificate stamp is not formed from a sticker and metal embossing stamp but my mark making. It's derived from a brass cover that's set into the beautiful wooden floors of the DSSV Pressure Drop's corridors. I suspect the stamped letters represent signage depicting an exhaust outlet or laundering or power outlet - I enjoy not knowing - it's more fun than working out an institutional acronym.
