Words:
Whale
there are at least 5 species of whale.
whales are related to dolphins.
whales are ocean-dwelling mammals.
whales eat fish.
sometimes whales eat other whales.
orcas are technically not whales.
whales live in pods.
whales give birth to live young.
House
a house is a place where someone lives.
houses usually have doors and windows.
houses are expensive.
houses can be big or small.
houses are insulated against weather.
a house is not always a home.
you can make any house a home.
Swap
there are at least 5 species of house.
houses are related to dolphins.
houses are ocean-dwelling mammals.
houses eat fish.
sometimes houses eat other houses.
orcas are technically not houses.
houses live in pods.
houses give birth to live young.
a whale is a place someone lives.
whales usually have doors and windows.
whales are expensive.
whales can be big or small.
whales are insulated against weather.
a whale is not always a home.
you can make any whale a home.
Secret Truth:
Tokitae
orcas are technically not whales
and definitely not houses.
whales are places where our
naïve nostalgia-specters live.
orcas typically live in oceans.
toki’s was in the middle of miami.
we thought she belonged to us,
the ice-cream-consumers and balloon-let-goers
and sunscreen-reapplication-forgetters.
a whale is not a home,
nor can you reliably make it one.
a tank is not an ocean.
nor can you reliably make it one.
but when pressing tiny palms into cool plexiglass,
the water looks deep and blue and vast.
today you wonder if they’ve drained her ocean.
it is easier to make a home for yourself in a whale
than it is to make a whale a home.
Simone (any pronouns, they/them if you’re indecisive) is a Florida-born poet with a parasocial relationship with orcas. Find them on Twitter, @simoneapoetry.