white smiles (remora scatter)

^{The shouting and the crying}

~

the fin
of a great
white
breaks the surface

slices
through the yellow-white
undulations
of the sprawl
of sand

it is a
sleek
creature

~

the huge white
cetacean
is exhausted

a puff of dust
and periodic
faint whistling
are all the signs
of life
it has left
to manifest

it is aware –
now –
that it is being circled
and sized

how not?

yet
it remains placid
in mood

resigned
to fate

it has seen off
the mad sailor
but
but in the end
even the unending battle
must cease
and
it bears the knowledge
that truth
comes
at the last

there is no longer
any need
for self-deception
or
for lies

~

the shark
continues
to circle

nearer

it is not
an unkind creature
and
in fact
it does not exist
in that kind
of world

it knows the whale
is a living thing
and it knows
too
the taste of death
simultaneously diffusing
through the sands

there will be more
sharks
and a savage feast

~

little trails
of dust
hover
in the air

gradually merging
into a brown smear
above and around
the ailing creature

the cloud thickens
with each circumnavigation
by the shark

and with each shallow
expulsion
through the blowhole

~

is it worth
the effort
to speak

a valid question –
fair –
for both prey
and predator

one last chance
to set the record
straight . . .

an opportunity
to clarify
innocent intentions . . .

no
no

~

a trembled ripple
runs down the flank
of the last
white whale

the shark
draws back its lips
in a rictus smile
that is all
teeth

arrows in
through the shushing sand
to take a first bite
from the
soon-to-be
carcass

remora
scatter

the desert
rolls on

~