Poetry Series: I’ll Become a Whale; A Gentle Reminder
By Sydney Read
I’ll Become a Whale
When death comes
and if I’m lucky
I’ll go back to the water.
I’ll become a whale.
Watch me slip, steady
Out and Into
the great blue
See my back,
Sunny-slick and breached?
I found, there, between
the waves some
warmth and ease, at last
A little rest.
And
Oh, I’ll chitter with delight
When I find that
everyday
is my great journey
my humble flight
So when the water gets too warm
The sun too close
(as I’m sure
It’s wont to do)
Watch me dive—
Dive!
With one
simple
strong
stroke
Swoosh!
Down, down
Under, Into
the blue-dark
Of shimmering tentacle friends
and little gods.
You won’t see my fin, its gentle wave
Hello,
I’ll say, a shy visitor
You are beautiful. I know that beauty doesn’t need
a name
Only, a little love.
Could I stay for a moment? With a little love?
A blink,
a swish,
a crackle-blue electric wish
For peace.
And so I’ll stay a little while
For cold water stories.
From where I’ve been
For where I’m going.
I’ll wave hello to Giant Squid
I’ll tell him about the sun
Bright and brave
It reaches, ever farther,
and learns.
A journeyman, like you
He’ll chirp wonderfully, tentacles tickling
He has not seen the sun
And one day, when he dies
if he’s lucky
He says he’d like to become a bird
I’ll dive into the sky if it’ll have me,
Mark my words I’ll—
I’ll touch the sun.
A blink,
a swish,
a crackle-blue electric wish
For peace.
And
Finally
When the dark
is enough and sun is
enough and time is enough
I’ll take my tale across the great water
I’ll take the stories on my back and
leave my love behind
Patience guide me
to the end of the world
They never found it. Pray they never will.
A flick of my tale,
a final smile
A splash!
I’ll tip over,
off
And into
the stars.
A Gentle Reminder
Well,
it’s not really
about the snow.
it’s the ice that’s
The Problem.
They tell me this with knowing smiles,
a gentle hand on my arm.
imagining perhaps
my future
(inevitable)
anger,
my car helplessly stuck
in its space.
We must get used
to the world and
know that it
is hard.
And that
That
is living.
Here is why snow
Is dull and difficult to drive in.
It’s not about the snow. Think:
Where are you going?
You may not get there.
But I have never seen
deep snow!
New sight, new sound (soundless!)
and what a gift to know it!
I’m from the South.
(I’m sorry)
We cry for the snow.
Back home, we flush
ice down
the toilet.
We turn our peejays insideout
we beg
to watch it come
just to see it go.
But oh, when it stayed!
The landscape altered
and how it altered us.
Snow made us frantic rosy people, stumbling
about, fumbling with our humanity like car keys.
Snow meant my step dad pulling out dusty sleds
and pushing us down a novel ice street and
Building snowmen out of mostly dirt and
taking photos and saying thanks
for a day, before it went,
as all things do.
I have never seen snow stay.
Now,
I sink my boots into forever-snow
I’ve forgotten, a little
What the ground looks like and grass looks like.
Yes, my car got stuck and my face was red and frustrated.
I’ve walked on ice and worn big coats and seen my hands
Turn blue.
It gets dark so early here (read: I sleep forever here!)
I’ve now had the privilege
Of being bored by snow (the world)
I see, yes,
That it is hard.
But see my puppy!
See her play, see her dash and make powder
and chomp snowballs in her mouth.
I cannot help but sink into its deepness with her.
What a season! What a life!
What a crystal blue sunset
Over a snowglobe world.
I think I’ll still cry
When the snow goes.