Whale bones

Gold cherry

By onemorething

Mon, 14 Oct 2019
  • 2466 reads
9 comments
 

If you walk the tunnel length 

of a whale's rib cage,

look into one whitened socket and

you'll see the ghost of an eye

still peers at you from the vacancy

of man-sized bones,

stripped of fat and tissue, 

shorn of the muscle 

of the deep blue cruise

of an underwater colossus.

You will be disoriented in this giant's shadow

of a skeleton, awed at great joints

held together wire to wire.

This lifeless reconstruction

does not reveal the whale hunter's nihilism

of sharp harpoon or his disbelief 

in her invisible soul that echoes now 

in hollow chambers of a different tomorrow 

and another salvation, you will hear

faint calls for courage as she sings

out the last of her ancient memories.

 

 

Image from pixabay.

 

Certificate U
Poem
Unclassified

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Walking with you through the skeleton is effectively done.

But because we do not need the death of a whale to survive, we can forget that others have probably in the past, especially at a time when they were in abundance in our oceans. Wonderful to see their size and beauty, but I wouldn't give her a mystical song! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by onemorething on

No, that's true. Though this wasn't aimed at those who historically may have hunted whales as a means of survival, however, this has not been true of all. And they are just my wandering words anyway. And we will have to agree to differ on a mystical song, I think they are very mysterious and magical. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. You make a good point about reasons for hunting. :)

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

This is such a moving poem onemorething. I could imagine the whale's soul looking down on its body wittnessing those wires holding its skeleton together. To me it was as if the whale itself had written the poem and was describing a memory of its own life, before its own swan song.

Thoughtfully written.

Jenny.

 

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Thanks Jenny! I do wonder how they perceive their world and it's hard not to anthropomorphise them which I suppose I have done! Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment. :)

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

I love the slow majestic sweep of these lines :

the deep blue cruise

of an underwater colossus.

 

and these, you have expressed how I felt as a child seeing the one at the Natural History Museum. This is brilliant, truly

her invisible soul that echoes 

in its hollow chambers of tomorrow 

and salvation, calls for courage

as she sings out the last

of her ancient memories.

 

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Thanks Di, actually those first two lines you mention, I edited at the last minute...I suddenly realised that what I had originally written made no sense at all to an embarrassing degree. Luckily it was late last night and I think I got away with it! Glad my replacement lines are better! I love the Natural History Museum too. The picture is of that, but you can't see it very well. Am pleased it made you think of a childish memory. Thanks for reading and commenting. :)

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Thanks belatedly for this Noo. :)

 

Submitted by jeand on

Hi again One more

I think I like this the best of yours that I have read so far. I was walking the length of the whale with you, sharing his memories.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by onemorething on

Thanks so much Jean. I'm glad you walked a whale with me. :)