We Are Mermaids by Stephanie Burt

Author:Stephanie Burt [Burt, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Published: 2022-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Whale Watch

If you approach the surface

calmly and early enough

on a breezy day like today,

you might see them go by.

Long ago they would stay

for hours in their huge metallic

shells with fin-sized bolts,

some trailing chains as thick

as an estuary eel;

they would gather at the tip

of each shell, and all look out

as if to say goodbye

to a wave, or to a cloud,

or to ice, which your

great-aunt may still remember.

Now all their shells are made

from bones of fallen trees;

for steering and propulsion, they

carve branches, which they dip

into the sea, then pull back,

two at a time, like so.

Sometimes they grunt or hiss

while propelling themselves,

almost as we do when

we begin to grieve.

The woven grids they keep

affixed to the largest shells

work like baleen, although

much coarser: they secure

sea grapes, sea lettuce, kelp

and bladder wrack, the basis

of their diet, which they augment

with herring or capelin.

Take care not to swim too fast

or rise too close; some shells

flip over easily,

and their ability

to dive is surprisingly

limited, although

it varies considerably.

They cannot hurt us,

though long ago they could.

If you stay nearly silent

long enough, you might

be able to hear their chirps

and specks—a work song, perhaps,

or one of the greetings or

warnings they emit at the upper

limits of our hearing.

Your calves will likely have

more luck than you.

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