THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD WAS IN HIS EYES
Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 8:34 am
Had this on the old site - Like Stephen mentioned in the posts on Bio Diesel I have also been touched by whales which was when this poem was written. On a whale watching trip at Hervey Bay, wet, seasick and feeling like crap and sitting at the stern of a boat that was wallowing in the slop as I tried to get air into my lungs. Suddenly a whoosh of fishy smelling air and a whale rose out of the water almost right beside me and stood???? for what seemed like ages eyeballing me...so close, only feet away. It was a magic moment, one I will never forget - had I been able to reach out and take him in my arms I would have done so - the connection between us felt so strong. It was moving and chilling and empowering all at the same time - I felt that there was a thread of communication between us. I love whales.
THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD IS IN HIS EYES
He had crossed the world’s big Oceans long before the birth of man
like his ancestors before him, back when the world first began .
He had seen his family murdered and had heard their final cries
and so the Wisdom of the World was in his eyes.
He had seen the whalers harpoon tear the flesh until it bled .
From the sound of wooden whaleboats that pursued him he had fled
with his mighty flukes propelling him to ocean depths below,
until his lungs so close to bursting, made him surface, made him blow.
He has swum beneath the Arctic ice, in Polar Regions cold,
where the Right Whales and the Orcas, seek the ocean krill I’m told .
Across the world to warmer climes, his birthplace lay ahead
past the shores of Fraser Island, where so many others bred.
He has witnessed mans indifference to rubbish dumped in the seas.
How the fish world wide are dying. Pristine reefs filled with debris.
Now coral polyps are dying by pollution from the land,
from toxic wastes discharged and run off, spoiling oceans, fouling sand.
For years at Tangalooma whales were hunted to their death
their stories passed to others by survivors that were left.
Many years had passed, no whales at all visited Moreton’s shore,
until the whaling ceased in sixty six, then they returned once more.
Now millions pay to see them as they breach in oceans blue
while the might of tourist dollars helps to raise awareness too .
But world wide they’re still depleted, by Nations we should despise.
Those who seek to hunt the mammal with that wisdom in his eyes..
He is majestic, none his equal on the land or in the skies.
Yet he faces race extinction. Man must surely realize
that the pollution of the oceans, the poisoning of the seas
is killing off the plankton, and the krill on which he feeds.
He shares his memories and his songs with others of his race .
He swims the oceans regally with dignity and grace .
In families, he guards the young with diligence each day.
He shepherds their migrations, through uncharted ocean ways.
Such gentleness and majesty should never be decried .
For these cetaceans of history for aeons have survived .
Who knows what they can teach us, can their knowledge be despised ?
If you look you'll see the wisdom of the world is in their eyes.
Maureen Clifford ©
THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD IS IN HIS EYES
He had crossed the world’s big Oceans long before the birth of man
like his ancestors before him, back when the world first began .
He had seen his family murdered and had heard their final cries
and so the Wisdom of the World was in his eyes.
He had seen the whalers harpoon tear the flesh until it bled .
From the sound of wooden whaleboats that pursued him he had fled
with his mighty flukes propelling him to ocean depths below,
until his lungs so close to bursting, made him surface, made him blow.
He has swum beneath the Arctic ice, in Polar Regions cold,
where the Right Whales and the Orcas, seek the ocean krill I’m told .
Across the world to warmer climes, his birthplace lay ahead
past the shores of Fraser Island, where so many others bred.
He has witnessed mans indifference to rubbish dumped in the seas.
How the fish world wide are dying. Pristine reefs filled with debris.
Now coral polyps are dying by pollution from the land,
from toxic wastes discharged and run off, spoiling oceans, fouling sand.
For years at Tangalooma whales were hunted to their death
their stories passed to others by survivors that were left.
Many years had passed, no whales at all visited Moreton’s shore,
until the whaling ceased in sixty six, then they returned once more.
Now millions pay to see them as they breach in oceans blue
while the might of tourist dollars helps to raise awareness too .
But world wide they’re still depleted, by Nations we should despise.
Those who seek to hunt the mammal with that wisdom in his eyes..
He is majestic, none his equal on the land or in the skies.
Yet he faces race extinction. Man must surely realize
that the pollution of the oceans, the poisoning of the seas
is killing off the plankton, and the krill on which he feeds.
He shares his memories and his songs with others of his race .
He swims the oceans regally with dignity and grace .
In families, he guards the young with diligence each day.
He shepherds their migrations, through uncharted ocean ways.
Such gentleness and majesty should never be decried .
For these cetaceans of history for aeons have survived .
Who knows what they can teach us, can their knowledge be despised ?
If you look you'll see the wisdom of the world is in their eyes.
Maureen Clifford ©
You make me laugh sometimes Neville..... You have such a good sense of humour....for an old fuddy duddy...