In Search Of Paradise Poem by Kewal Paigankar

I first saw you
Hung from the ceiling
Held together by steel rods
Filling a cavernous room
In the Natural History Museum.
The scars and marks
From the time the harpoonist first took aim
Still visible;
You hadn’t even reached full bloom
Before your life was cut short.



Standing beneath you I wept
Recalling your long journey
Through the changing seasons
Thousands of miles of open sea
In search of paradise
Till the fateful encounter
In Japanese waters.
You were not an endangered species
Back then……



I watched your descendants
Gentle, calm full of purpose
Spectacular mammal marvels
Making sonic sounds below water
Leaping above the shimmering blue
Parting the sea with an upwards splash
Their thunderous power
Causing the surface to disperse
Before the descent back into water
Head and body half submerged
At once serene, imperturbable, nonchalant
Intuitive and intelligent
Gliding towards the warmth
Of Hawaiian waters.








So surge through the changing sea
You wondrous amphibians;
Follow your amazing nous
You mammoth humpback mariners
Seamlessly cutting a swathe
In a straight line
On the surface of the ocean
Before diving deep again.
Tropical warmth awaits you
With an opportunity to recuperate
Along with a search for a mate.



Your epic journey is over
Eight thousand miles later
From the cold of the Arctic
To the warmth of the Pacific
Where you have camped
To enjoy the incandescent swelter
Of a sun-kissed island.
You will shortly be making plans
For the homeward odyssey
Through the same waters
Where you will have the company
Of a miniature you,
Your own newborn progeny.