Letters

The dead gray body

of a young humpback

whale nearly five men long

came washed in overnight

by the broken edge

of the sea.

It was not full grown

when it died

an endangered species.

It was identified

by scientists

who cut out

the intestines

with sword-sized knives

in order to examine them

full of octopus

and squid.

In the laboratory

they would attempt

to discover

the cause of death.

A crane hoisted

the lifeless whale

out of the surf

into a deep hole in the sand.

The inner universe

seen through its

enormous black eye

on its own

in the sea

was waiting to be recognized

by some other part of

“the mind.”

Mym Tuma

East Moriches