a pastel by Ethel Mortenson Davis
Tag Archives: fish
Spirit Bear
by Thomas Davis
As cold as fish, as gray as slate, a bear
Rose from a foaming wave and walked to shore.
Above gray limestone cliffs a fiery glare
Of maples bent into the tempest’s roar.
Out in the lake clouds churned a waterspout
Into a weave of water, waves, and sky
As frenzied schools of salmon, whitefish, trout
Leapt from the wind-whipped waves and tried to fly.
The bear, eyes black as lodestone stone, stood, roared
Into the roar of waves and shrieking wind
And tipped its massive head, its voice a chord
That stilled the storm and brought it to an end.
As winter gnarled inside the bear’s black eyes,
Its breath spilled geese into the lake and skies.
Filed under Poetry, Thomas Davis
A Day
by Ethel Mortenson Davis
It is a day
when the earth
turns just right,
when fish swim
close to the top
of the Great Lake
to feed on insects or plants,
when black-winged pelicans
dive in and out to fish,
and fishermen gather
in clumps, throwing
out their lines.
It is a day
before the storm,
humid and cloudy,
when the two of you
think of ways to
come together,
as part
of a turning of the universe,
a love that blows
a sweetness over us—
something unexpected.
Filed under Ethel Mortenson Davis, Poetry
Numbers
by Ethel Mortenson Davis
The oil spill of the Exxon Valdez keeps on giving
for 18 years it’s kept on giving.
6000 workers along the shoreline sprayed chemicals on the oil,
breathing in the chemicals as well as the oil.
Many have died or have health problems.
The oil fell back onto the shore.
213 rivers have been destroyed—-
no longer can support life or spawn fish.
Thousands of tons of herring died–the waters still contain oil.
“Just watch us”, Exxon corporate leaders said,
“We’ll take care of you.”
The Supreme Court said Exxon didn’t have to pay
5 billon to people of Prince William Sound—
only 586 million—about 4 days profit for Exxon Mobile,
about 1 tenth of the losses
for the white and native peoples of Prince William Sound.
There have been 12 suicides and a divorce in every family
in the fishing community of 6000.
It just keeps on giving—
2 oil spills
in the world
a month.
Filed under Ethel Mortenson Davis, Poetry
A Walrus and an Elephant Discussing The Whale That Runs the General Store
a children’s poem by Thomas Davis
“Well,” said the walrus to the elephant upon the shore.
“Have you heard the news the fish are telling
To the whale that runs the General Store?”
“Yes, I’ve heard,” answered the elephant with an ivory grin.
“I’ve heard the crazy, busy-body fish
Are trying to make the whale think that he is thin!”
Filed under Poetry, Thomas Davis
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