Let Us Admire The Lonely Dolphin

- for Jaroslav Pijarowski A dolphin left its pod in the sea near Pompeii; It approached swimmers and played near the beach, Cavorting with humans, as if eager for attention. Some poked at its blowhole, yet it kept returning. News spread to Rome; crowds on the beach increased; Throngs of viewers made the resort hard to manage. An official sent wardens to chase the dolphin away; Later, boatmen noticed its own pod treating it roughly. For days it wavered between deep water and the beach, Then one day it was gone, never to be seen again. Surely it had something to share with those bathers, But how could they imagine its undersea visions? How did the watery world look through its eyes? What mind felt drawn to cavort with those bathers? A dolphin makes squeaks to confide its feelings; From the dolphin's thoughts a tree of stories grows The branches bear fruits; within them are voices, Which conjure up pictures of life in the ocean. Though deaf to what it wished to tell, Let imagination teach me to hear; . Let me clamber up its tree of stories And picture humans as that dolphin saw them.