Mourning
Mourning
I saw videos
of mother whales
mourning their dead babies.
One carried her calf
on her back for days.
One dragged her newborn
with her mouth for two weeks.
One clutched hers to her side
with her flipper
and I could feel the pressure of its body
against my own—
could hear her keen—
felt the notes
bubble up in my throat.
Sir David Attenborough
has said it is very possible
that the mothers’ milk
has been contaminated by toxins
from the plastics polluting the oceans.
They nursed their babies to death.
I pray that when enough of us
feel bubbling in our own throats
there will be a great wave of change
in the world, above and below.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Humpback_whale_with_her_calf.jpg