THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD WAS IN HIS EYES

[Maureen K Clifford]

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 ©

[Neville Briggs]

I think all they could teach us is how to swallow a mouthful of krill in one gulp.

[Maureen K Clifford]

I am taking that as being said tongue in cheek Neville because I know you are far too intelligent to believe that.

You do know that whales share memories as do elephants. How do they negotiate the oceans of the world without all the fancy navigation equipment that humans require. How do they know their songs and the songs evolve and change over time and yet every whale apparently seems to know it according to researchers. How do they know how to find their birthplace when they were just babies the first time they left it - and yet they return on their own time and time again - as do turtles. So many questions.

Their wisdom may not be the technical 'wisdom' that us humans supposedly have, and no doubt they are totally outgunned and outclassed by those who hunt and kill them but I think they have the wisdom of the world - of Mother Earth and natures true rhythms ingrained in their psyches...something that we have lost with our evolution. They have the rhythm of life.

[r.magnay]

You make me laugh sometimes Neville..... You have such a good sense of humour....for an old fuddy duddy...

[Stephen Whiteside]

Well said, Maureen.

[Neville Briggs]

old fuddy duddy ???? have you been talking to my wife


It was just a quick reaction Maureen to the suggestion that animals have some transcendent cosmic wisdom.
There are certainly some amazing, wonderful and mysterious processes in nature, but as far as I know, the evidence shows that animals are creatures programmed to operate on " instinct ". For example why would the wise whales head en masse onto the beach just to become marooned and die ?? Can animals decide not to live in their habitat, decide not to eat their allotted diet, decide not to follow their predestined migration route, if such things might be unwise ??

I've been told that the most complex object ever discovered in the universe, is the human brain, and the most mysterious and potent entity in the world is the human mind. No animal, no matter how " smart " can come even close.
Bob Pacey has pointed out how on this little web site, we come to know each other and understand something about each others ideas and opinions. We do this without being physically present, with the aid of digitally produced symbols on an electronic screen.
That's a wonder to me that far surpasses any nature spectacle, no animal can ever do that.

[r.magnay]

Spot on Neville, and that's how I know you are an old fuddy duddy!...........actually I don't know or even suspect that you are, but I think you already knew that from my electronic signals and cyber vibes!...

[mummsie]

Beautiful Maureen, and yes,Bobs right, and by your writing I can tell your an animal lover, now what about Neville.............I think he just loves to stir.
Sue

[Maureen K Clifford]

Sue I don't think Neville is a stirrer so much as an informed thinker, who is able to think outside the square without allowing emotion to come into the equation - no doubt a bloody good thing if you are fighting crime.

Instinct in animals is amazing and inbuilt or learned as Marty's little girl has shown. The only tradie I had trouble with when doing my reno Mahalia hated. She would growl at him, nip his heels given the chance, was always wary of him and yet he did nothing outwardly to harm her, complied with all my requests as to how to behave towards her, and I thought he was a good bloke and didn't get where this behaviour was coming from but put it down to a 'learnt' experience from her past.

She was right, I was soooo wrong. He did bad work which has cost me thousands to remedy over time, ripped me off big time and I have discovered that is his forte. Mr charming and convivial on the outside, rat on the inside. I now listen to my dog..if she don't take to you well neither will I. Her wisdom far exceeds mine in some things.

She will love Heather, and she loves her Aunty Leonie, took to David and Elaine and Irene with no trouble at all...I think she understands those with a poetic heart.

[Bob Pacey]

Let me know if she bites the purple moderator so i can be prepared. I'm like you my dog knows best.


Bob