“For a Coming Extinction” (W.S. Merwin)
Posted on May 2, 2008
Filed Under Philosophy, Poetry, Politics, Reading, Science |
For a Coming Extinction
Gray whale
Now that we are sinding you to The End
That great god
Tell him
That we who follow you invented forgiveness
And forgive nothing
I write as though you could understand
And I could say it
One must always pretend something
Among the dying
When you have left the seas nodding on their stalks
Empty of you
Tell him that we were made
On another day
The bewilderment will diminish like an echo
Winding along your inner mountains
Unheard by us
And find its way out
Leaving behind it the future
Dead
And ours
When you will not see again
The whale calves trying the light
Consider what you will find in the black garden
And its court
The sea cows the Great Auks the gorillas
The irreplaceable hosts ranged countless
And fore-ordaining as stars
Our sacrifices
Join your work to theirs
Tell him
That it is we who are important
[W.S. Merwin]
See also: This imminent extinction. More: Right whales written off. “It is we who are important.
Comments
2 Responses to ““For a Coming Extinction” (W.S. Merwin)”
MASSIVE STROKE VALENTINE
Tender shadows of twin butterflies
on the window a mourning dove bends
to sip from the bird bath looks around
when I cough can’t see me flies off
the mystery of the two headless birds
I found yesterday one in the backyard
one in front a sparrow and a mocking
bird still bleeding still unsolved
the names blur the eyes forget
there’s a stumbling of the light
into the wall I hear the body fall
a crashing through leaves from
where I sit it looks like me
a forest dying through fog is all.
Fantastic choice here, Joe. Insightful and poetic (duh, you’re a poet). It’s time (IMHO) for the whale to make room for the other. Yes, we can!!!