Encounter with a Whale

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

“In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."- Mahatma Gandhi

"If you could make little fishes talk, they would talk like whales." - Oliver Goldsmith

 “The whales do not sing because they have an answer, they sing because they have a song.” – Gregory Colbert

Years ago, I tripped over a beer can left on a flight of steps. I was left bruised but not too badly hurt. It was something of a crisis at the time, though, as I had to miss a job interview t by needing to get checked over at the local hospital.

Being of a philosophical disposition, I reminded myself that accidents will happen and there was no point in crying over spilt milk... until I heard the sound of giggling and looked to see several older children, who promptly ran off...

These things happen, of course, all the time; some, though, less by accident than design.

Meanwhile, on the world stage, the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepens. as Russia invades...

ENCOUNTER WITH A WHALE

Stumbled on a beer can
thoughtlessly discarded in the street,
lost my footing...
went flying, landed on my back
in The Abyss
of my worst nightmares for years,
unable to move,
waves of silence rushing at me as they might
a dying whale’s dreams

Tears staining my cheeks,
unable even to cry for help, no hope
of rescue, my life
done and dusted, much like an urn
in full view, now covered
over for having killed many a cosy chat
about this ‘n’ that,
death but something no one likes to think about
for tempting fate

Ah, but the waves, alerted
to my tears by some natural empathy,
are urging me now
to get back into the swim of life
before it’s too late,
take whatever way out of the whale
before harpooned for meat
and body parts to help succour and save humanity,
excuse its barbarity

Whale heaves, spewing me
into a vast ocean of mixed feelings,
sick of an alien body
denying it rest, distracting its powers
of navigation,
conspiring against any natural instinct
for self-preservation,
mine-body-spirit trusted to continue on it way, if only
to die another day

From a scary premature night
to an even scarier light of day, urged
by politic voices
in nature and human nature as mean us
to rise above such flaws
forever pitting one against the other
by joining forces,
if only to sow a sense of forward-looking as on waking
in a place of healing

Now, is it a whale I hear singing deceptively sweetly
or the politic voice of diplomacy...?

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022