Hard to imagine, but what would I
If one bright, intriguing morning
I woke up as a sea lion?
Lying on a sandbar of the
Wadden Sea near Ameland, I would merge
Sky with sea,
Sea with clouds.
I would nurture my fins,
Wondering where my former fingers were,
So I could swim at lightning speed
In pursuit of crabs, fish and mollusks,
Although in my previous life as a woman
I did not hunt nor was I inclined to hunt,
So I could plunge into the depths of the sea with full swings,
Although I did not dive into the vastness of the sea like the poet named Pisces,
Watch out for predatory hunters – sharks, killer whales and orcas
Who would want me on their table
Because I am fat, although as a human being
I have always been lean, just skin and bones.
And I would also be a mother breastfeeding my twins
On the sparkling diamond sand
so they would be sweet, so they would be “cute”,
For the funny tourists who would watch them
through binoculars from the excursion boat.
I would maintain communication in a sea lion colony
To fulfill my social function.
I would conclude, sister sea lion, that my human life
Was like yours: searching for food, raising offspring, and
Escape from the monsters that seek to devour me.