POEMS/ The Song of the Leopard Seal
The Song of the Leopard Seal
Exploring Paradise Bay
in Antarctica’s spring waters
we saw a giant
Leopard Seal, sunning
on an solitary ice floe,
emerged from its winter bed
of solid cold, frigid waters.
Eyes closed as if asleep,
the seal began to sing
in bubbled notes
that rose and fell in spirals,
a punctuated pulse
of hollowed o’s and a’s
and rounded e’s and u’s
song that spoke of
longing and desire,
his urgent need
to find a mate
and we remembered
as we listened
that time when
we were young
without each other—
our songs
were just like his.
From Migrations (Antrim House, 2013)
Exploring Paradise Bay
in Antarctica’s spring waters
we saw a giant
Leopard Seal, sunning
on an solitary ice floe,
emerged from its winter bed
of solid cold, frigid waters.
Eyes closed as if asleep,
the seal began to sing
in bubbled notes
that rose and fell in spirals,
a punctuated pulse
of hollowed o’s and a’s
and rounded e’s and u’s
song that spoke of
longing and desire,
his urgent need
to find a mate
and we remembered
as we listened
that time when
we were young
without each other—
our songs
were just like his.
From Migrations (Antrim House, 2013)