Right Whales
From the book Alive In These Woods
Because they have no dorsal fins,
they look like stepping stones
or ancient stairs
floating down through water to the plain of sand
where bones of other whales lie buried—
not like the unlucky whales lost in krill-pink clouds
where lines from buoys to lobster traps become
bars of a cage.
I saw a photo of one: a rope had caught its baleen comb,
jigsawed through to the jaw, torn the creature’s fluke.
I read it takes weeks
for the whale to die, deep
below the surface.
Nearby fishermen hosing down their boats
could have no idea.