The humpback whale

I have spent my days
chasing after an elusive myth-dream,
possessed by a lust to own.

I thought:
If I have you, I am worthy.
If I have you, I am no longer powerless.
If I have you, I will have finally done something right.

I find an ivory tusk.
And I settle for it.
I crow with pride and make a special belt
so I wear it where everyone will see.
Look, the tusk proclaimed wordlessly, look at how good I am.

How foolish I am.

One day, during my travels,
I wander through the forest humming.

I glimpse –
a sliver of movement.
A vast shape slips past the tops of trees.
In the pearl-dewed morning light,
a humpback whale
as vast as the sky
soundlessly
and gracefully
dives through the air.
I do not glimpse all of you.
I do not need to.

You are nothing like what I thought you were.
You are not small and bound and owned.
You are vast and alive and powerful.

That day,
I touch the broad back of you
instead of fumbling around in the dark
thinking I own you, 
and I realize you are powerful empathy and compassion.
How blessed I am.