it comes in waves

 

 

The whale surfaced before us, arriving unawares

I knew it was an angel 

          by the wings covering its feet

 

Emerging like childbirth without labor

          parting the legs of the sea 

          pushing, irresistible, water breaking 

          a crowning, the head appears 

and a breath was taken     

          I think it was mine

 

Reborn into our world at each chosen breath

we, onlookers, rejoiced at its appearance

mistaking a miracle as a thing of joy

          as the naive so often do

 

People dream of seeing an angel

but proof of God is a terrible thing

          and death follows in its wake

 

It floated there, so alien

yet so much more natural than I

commanding without interfering, 

          as humans don’t

alone, where once so many angels flew

 

It hovered before me, still and silent

the answer to questions

I still don’t know to ask

 

Men no longer call upon the gods of the sea

          not until they are floundering

nor do they remember the fate of Jonah

after leviathan spit him out

 

An omen then, a ghost sent by Dickens

to point toward the future and silently accuse

          we always think it points to us

when lately it’s been all about children

          and God’s choice to let them die

 

The angel descended, and was gone

          taking my faith down with it

and I wondered if I turned to look back 

          just for a moment

if I would be turned to salt

 

Perhaps the sea itself is composed 

of all those souls 

who saw the angel before me

          and longed for just one more glance

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Published by Honeyguide Literary Magazine Issue 6, June 2023, Amanda Marrero, editor