Orcas cut the water bright,
Black and white through all the day.
Common as the noon and night,
Here and gone, and on their way.
But when the dark begins to thin,
Before the world has learned its sound,
The ocean holds its breath again,
A humpback rises, slow and round.
No flash of fin at dusk or noon,
Only mornings, soft and true.
Weight and wonder, like a tune
The ocean remembers, old and new.
Orcas race from tide to tide,
Seen by many, known by all.
Humpback waits till dawn is wide,
Shows himself, then lets night fall.