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Jennie Neighbors: NOW THIS BELL

March 8, 2022 by PBQ Leave a Comment

A sound calls us to attention: it enters 
our silence softly, a wave finally coming to shore
releasing the energy of ten thousand miles
into the hiss of sand and foam. 
 
The whale is gone. All that remains is a problem 
for beach goers, scientists, and sanitation. 
 
Look hard at this picture: examine 
the rings of white barnacles 
like lichen roses around the dead 
animal’s mouth, how they echo 
the white sea foam; the dead eye, 
 
open to the sun, lets in no images; and
the massive tail – what muscle propelled 
this mammal through the sea, cut through
waves, rolled deep under water 
with its calf under fin – now still. 
 
A sound calls us to attention: the cry 
and pitch of circling birds, the distant boom
of sea, the reverberation of the bell 
breaking our silence. 

Filed Under: Issue 101, Poetry 101 Tagged With: Jennie Neighbors

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