I am honored to be one of the selected writers to be in the multi-media exhibition curated by Jeanne Dodds, Creative Engagement Director at Endangered Species Coalition. Submergence: Going Below the Surface with Orca and SalmonExcerpt from Silent Song, on exhibition at Submergence: Going Below the Surface with Orca and SalmonAnchored in kelp, I peer over the edge of the kayak only to see my reflected face distorted by ripples into a wavering ghoulish mask. The sea remains an inscrutable expanse. I hear the soft fluting of a thrush, a bald eagle snickering. Suddenly, the mercury surface erupts with an explosive exhale. A whale surfaces so close to our kayak I see the flare of her nostril bellowing breath from cavernous lungs. The kayak sways precariously as much from our startlement as from the wash of the orca's body. I press my hand flat-palmed toward the water as if I could miraculously conjure a firm surface against which to steady myself. The liquid silver sea bursts to five more blowholes, explosive orca exhalations, spindrift streaming from dorsal fins as they slice the water. Four maybe five more breaths and the whales disappear beneath the surface. We sway in silence over their whirlpool footprints.
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Excerpt from Salmon Prayer, on exhibition at Submergence: Going Below with Orca and SalmonImagine salmon carry a map of home wrapped within the double helix of their DNA, their body a compass finely tuned to geomagnetic cues and chemical signals. They gather at the mouths of rivers and creeks waiting for the flush of cool autumn rain so they can continue upstream to spawn.
Kneel on the banks of a salmon spawning stream. Gaze into water the color of weak tea and watch two sockeye salmon holding steady against the current with the slightest quiver of head and tail. And wonder if they remember when they were salmon fry in this creek no more than six years ago? |
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Gray Whale Encounter
I know with a deep animal sense of knowing I do not choose encounters, the whales do. Out on the water I carry with me a quiet yearning to be chosen.
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