Scientists Have Known of a Second 52-Hertz Whale Since 2010–Steve Brisendine
This seems an even harder loneliness now,
and doubled, for each to hear its frequency
but never (or so all sensors say so far) to find
the only other creature in the World Ocean
capable not only of hearing that call, but of
comprehending it as well; then again, given
my lack of cetacean fluency, it is possible that
this dual solitude persists with good reason.
I do not know whether a song might mean
I know a great place for krill
or
Send nudes,
which long slow rise in tone might signify
I’m finally ready for a relationship
and which says
I’m afraid you won’t like me in person.
But if – as some believe – these two are
hybrids, products of unions between blue
and fin whales and just trying to fit in with
one family or another, perhaps their songs
are meant to convey support and solidarity,
the knowledge that something else Gets It.
Just checking in to see how it’s going,
one call comes in from south of the Faroes.
It’s been a little rough lately,
the response arrives from the Chilean coast,
but I’m hanging in there.
***
Steve Brisendine lives, works and remains unbeaten against the New York Times crosswords in Mission, KS. A 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, he has appeared in Modern Haiku, Flint Hills Review, I-70 Review and other publications and anthologies. He has no degrees, one tattoo and a deep and unironic fondness for strip-mall Chinese restaurants.