Wondering wandering below the star pocked dome,
'Ere night bleeds into day and as deep calls to deep,
Marveling as evening creatures call and respond,
Whence this complexity, how this terrible beauty?
My soul, why is it so?
In the dark deep, tapered behemoth, bumpy beings,
Giant cetacean nomads glide, baleen gulping krill.
Receiving this marine manna --a gift, a divine keep,
Once sated, joy-breaching the brine to an airy biome.
Whale, why are you so?
Slowing my gait, my tired eyes close lids in reverence,
'Ere night sky pales in morn's mauves and magentas.
My spirit's imaginary lilts in resonance with the song,
Modulations of tone and timbre, phrase and themes.
My spirit, why are you so moved?
Songs elegiac and elysian vibrate depths and shallows,
Passed on, generation to generation, world without end.
Gracing seas to sky-hopping, intelligence without agenda,
Summoned from God's bestiary in mystical beneficence.
Humpback, why do you sing?
As Sol's first piercing beams prod my mind to remember,
Finding raspy voice to poorly mimic the humpback hymn,
In a sad longing to be one with the spirit of the humpback--
Guardian of weaker ocean kin, oft seen coming to the aid.
Creature, from whence this courage?
Helping seals, penguins, dolphins, even stray humankind,
Facing down sharks or orca to save fellow ocean dwellers,
For some hapless ocean prey, unbidden marine seraphim,
Thus risking fin, fluke, and life in choosing to be defender.
Humpback teach me your song.
That we may love and guard the other,
Teach us your song.
(Photo of a seal riding a humpback whale as it helps the seal avoid Orcas).
