WE WERE TERRESTRIAL ONCE, MAYBE
the sand felt sandy & loose
until bone & muscle grew heavy
sight short breath shorter
small waves now lap at my mouth & against my slit
out of my mind I am with the smell like fresh seaweed
of our glide our glide deep & slow our belly-to-belly glide
south to the Tongue of the Ocean off the Andros shore
where I lost you dizzy with sonic ringing
bang & buzz & boom deep in my ear
calling me to shore
if in this merciful light-headedness
my heart is a cork playful light with laughter
afloat out there with you leading you oceanward
understand my love there is nothing here
just sand & shore (maybe our earlier home)
& the crushing weight of flesh without water
the too blue sky a mirage of sea just above me
I no longer feel the sun burn my skin
the deep deep where we flukeflapped
& flipperflopped in love
we breached for each other & dipped
& dragged our flukes like drunken oars
off the Nantucket shore while the tourists gasped
that deep is so so far away many muscular tail flaps away
& an oh so slow deep swim in easy drag & glide with you
in pitch cold & utter blackness
your whale breath in my lungs
thankyou for the guard of honour our humpback podmates
you bring to steer me back to you outlandish my love
I would if I could just roll over roll to you roll
all over you & suck another barnacle & another
from your throat eat squid from your tongue
I hear your whalesong above the rest
& you my love you still point your nose to the shore
you would I know this if you could drag
& drag some more the last bits of my imploded flesh
back back back to the deep
