Whale Song
Neither one of us asked for this,
and yet here we are, torturing each other
with unknown agonies.
and yet here we are, torturing each other
with unknown agonies.
A tiny man flails inside me, wailing
about repentance, and I, thinking
I’d swallowed poison or a krill,
experience sudden indigestion.
Who cast us upon each other,
I, a giant mammal of the ocean,
now feeling the restless limbs
of some unhappy creature,
and Jonah, not wanting to be inside my gut,
punching my ribs with little fists,
the victim of some wrathful God?
This is the problem with prophets,
whose preaching gets blown away
in the sands of hate, and with fish like me,
whose only sin is eating smaller fish,
and unwittingly swallowing a stranger.
About the Author
Donna Pucciani, a Chicago-based writer, has published poetry worldwide in Shi Chao Poetry, Poetry Salzburg, The Pedestal, ParisLitUp, Meniscus, Voice and Verse, and other journals. Her seventh and latest book of poetry is EDGES.