Beached pilot whales
Somewhere
you took a wrong turning
and others followed.
You lie growling and clicking
on the sand,
at the mercy of the same species
who are trying to help
as destroyed the world
you once swam through
with ease.
you took a wrong turning
and others followed.
You lie growling and clicking
on the sand,
at the mercy of the same species
who are trying to help
as destroyed the world
you once swam through
with ease.
A bucket of water
for momentary relief
will never be enough
to make reparation
for our fouling of
the seas.
for momentary relief
will never be enough
to make reparation
for our fouling of
the seas.
Somewhere
we took a wrong turning
and others followed,
and now we can't seem
to find a way
we took a wrong turning
and others followed,
and now we can't seem
to find a way
back to the garden
of that better
day.
of that better
day.
230 pilot whales beached themselves in the second
mass stranding event this past week in the
Australian state of Tasmania.
mass stranding event this past week in the
Australian state of Tasmania.
Scientists say noise pollution, overfishing and warming seas - all human-caused factors - contribute to the many strandings seen along beaches in recent years. Half of the beached whales above are still alive and rescue efforts are being made, but the scope of suffering for the whales is devastating.
Shared with earthweal where we are doing an ekphrasis challenge as Brendan prepares for a major hurricane bearing down on the state of Florida.
Any stranding is disturbing, but the mass strandings of pilot whales (so ironic a name) is incomprehensibly sad. The sea rarely demonstrates its paradoxes like this -- mammals who fled to the water returning in their end to the shore. Maybe they are protesting us.
ReplyDeleteThis photo was another that broke my heart. We can't even understand how it is, which thing we've done, that is causing this. It's frightening. How can we ever fix all of the things we have broken? (Kerfe)
ReplyDeleteThose poor whales!
ReplyDeleteThe terrible thing is that some are saved pushed out to sea and then they return again.... we have to find an answer to this.
ReplyDeleteThe turning here is dual, but the responsibility is single--ours. Our alienation from and disregard for what is truly important will be truly the death of us if we do not make a turn in another direction. Well said, Sherry.
ReplyDeleteAny reparation must come from a sense of it being needed, a degree of guilt. I fear we are such a long way from there. Lovely to read you again Sherry.
ReplyDelete