Whale Watching

Whale Watching

Shortly prior
to calling this piece
of floating rock
“home,”
I visited the west side
of the island,
to a state park
known for being
a great whale watching
vantage point.

On the quick path
to the sea,
I remember passing
a simple sign
that officially informed,
“Whale Watching,”
adding a directional arrow
for emphasis.
You see signs like this
all the time,
and think of them more
like a pleasant idea
rather than
a declaration of fact.

I walked a few yards
past the sign
to a table,
looked up,
and lo and behold,
right on cue
for their cameo montage segment
right out of an Esther Williams movie,
were about 18 Orca whales
close to the shore.
Truth in advertising.
First shot outta the box.

I have yet
to repeat that experience.
With or without cetaceans,
yet this is a gorgeous spot
and I seem to end up here
with virtually
every island visitor I’ve had.

Not one other time
have I seen
so much as a sea slug,
let alone a whale.
But it doesn’t matter.
The Orca pods move around,
I move around,
and sooner or later,
we will all find ourselves
facing each other
once more
on a shoreline.
I will be enthralled.
They will not care in the least.
As it should be.

Alex Shapiro July 2008