Albatross

Almighty sea, so large and so loud! So tempting, yet so frightening… And how do you regard the sea, my friend? Do you listen to its songs? Do you try to understand its words? Is it crying, or is it happy? It’s so beautiful, so close to your heart, and so timid.

I have no answers to the questions in the dialogue with the sea. I do not understand its whispers, but I do know one thing: the sea has always been, and will always remain, stronger than a person, the human mind and, most importantly, than love… That is why I stand here before you: I wish to remind you of those who believed in the sea, who lived and breathed it, yet it took them and held them in its embrace.

All around me I see countless ships, the people working on them, and their stories. Some stories begin in the sea, and sometimes the sea is where they die, taking our loved ones with them. The souls of sailors who never made it back to the harbour find shelter in the depths of the sea and in our hearts. At the bottom of the Baltic Sea lie ships that carried the Lithuanian tricolour into the world’s waters, and sailors who carried big dreams into eternal silence, whose surnames are carved into the monument along with the names of the sunken ships.

You see, people expect that albatrosses like me and our siblings the seagulls have special powers, that we are like superheroes, and that our bodies carry the souls of the sailors. Here I am, an albatross taking off for an eternal flight – the greatest mission of my life is to keep their memory alive. With my metal body flying high, I hope to remind everyone of those who sailed away and never returned.

I have risen before the eyes of the citizens of Klaipėda and I thank the sculptor Klaudijus Pūdymas and the architect Mindaugas Zabarauskas for giving me my body. I have also been blessed by the grace of God when the priest Virgilijus Poškus blessed my every vertebra and wished for strength. Oh, what a nice person… I believe that as long as my metal body remains strong, the memory of the sailors who never returned will remain just as strong.

I’ve had many difficult nights. Just like people never forget their first scraped knee, I cannot forget my first storm. Before I first met the curious people of Klaipėda, the very first weekend I arrived here, the wind went crazy and started ruffling my wings! But I prevailed. Neither the wind nor the rain, painfully striking my body, scared me. I have proven my courage and my determination to withstand every storm of the kind that took our loved ones away.

I must say I am very honoured to be the symbol of freedom and courage, and a reminder of the dramatic relationship between the sea and mankind. Before we part ways… I hope your soul has experienced the energy I feel every day as I fulfil my important duty.

And now, my friend, close your eyes and listen. Let your soul just be, and think of those who sailed away and never came back.