Imagine being swallowed by an immense whale

at the edge of the known world,

traveling in the dark, plunging into the depths,

careening in fact into the icy emptiness and

the bliss of the watery under.

Imagine it opens its mouth with you inside

and puts your fire out.

I prefer to ride around the gentle surface

like a waltz over the waves,

not be lashed to the helm,

in no hurry to stop or escape,

and know where I’m going,

but that’s not how things really are.

Any questions?

Silence…

I know what’s bothering you.

You want to set me straight.

You want me to say these are alternate facts,

that I imagined this,

or even lied about the whale.

But it’s not possible, of course.

Only in a cartoon.

One day, hopefully, out of the blue

this will hit you:

    Where ignorance is bliss,

    ‘Tis foolish to be wise.

Let’s move on to another story,

the sanity vs vanity of Adam and Eve.

Continue with your lessons.

Stephen Cipot

Garden City Park