LESSON FROM CHRISTINE
By: Andy Butter
- Barbara Bretting Poetry Winner
Don’t mention the orca calf
that got hit last night because the captain
thought its lost-calls and whines
were just a car alarm blaring on the car deck.
Its back was broken by the strong prow of the ferry
as it rolled underneath the hundreds of us sitting,
bleeding from its blowhole, sucking
in thick gobs of saltwater. Engines,
as you know, wait at the back of boats
and churn water and flesh just the same.
Don’t mention that mangled mess of an orca
or its confused mom moaning. Water can be deep
and far and sometimes it is best to leave
the sudden silence of an accidental death
under the waves of a wide and dark sound.
“SYNCHRONICITY” By: Jonathan Martin
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