It must have been something
when the whales knew
we could hear them,
were trying to know them,
understand them.
They were speaking their own tongue.
Did they have dialects?
Was there a word for
coral? bleached? harpoon?
Did we really hear any of them?
It must have been something
when the elephants knew
we realized they were like us––
familiar paths,
imperishable attachments,
keening grief.
What were they bleating
on command in circuses and zoos?
more peanuts? applause?
or something they knew
we didn’t understand
but could have if we really tried.
It must have been something
when we got off the back of the world,
stopped crushing its spine,
lordly in our houdah
strapped in with a whip
and stood down,
stood up glorious when we understood,
when we understood we belonged
to them, our kin.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lynn Axelrod Mitchell is a community organizer in her home area of Point Reyes Station. She’s been a reporter for a weekly newspaper, an environmental NGO staff member and an (early-retired) attorney. She has a BA in Literature, pursued graduate Lit. coursework and studied with a couple of well-published poets. She continues reading literature, poetry, history and current affairs. Her work has appeared in the Marin Poetry Center anthology.