Ancestral Dream by Rachel Baird

 I dream of the whale:

Out in the dark waters

We are capsized by forgetting,

She swims to me

And puts my hand in her mouth,

Begs further exploration -

I feel the brittle curve inside her sinew

Like playing a harp

Or building a wattle,

Then choose to climb this baleen fence,

Step up hand over foot grip barnacles

And ride her back to back,

Stretching out across this sleek old body,

Wave foam rising up and over shoreline,

She beaches to bring me home,

I keep her wet until the high tide

Then watch her swim back into the deep.

Copyright 2012, M.R. Baird