Basking Shark in Scotland

Comment by Brian
11th March 2008 - 2:03

This photo reminds me of a poem I read a long time ago...

Basking Shark

To stub an oar on a rock where none should be
To have it rise with a slounge out of the sea
is a thing that happened once, too often, to me.

But not too often, though enough,I count as gain
That i once met, on a sea tin-tacked with rain
that roomsized monster with a matchbox brain.

He displaced more than water, he shoggled me
Centuries back, this decadent townee
Shook on a branch of his family tree.

Swish up the dirt and, when it settles
a spring is all the clearer. I saw me in one fling,
emerging from the slime of everything.

So who's the monster? The thought made me grow pale
For twenty seconds as, sail after sail,
the tall fin slid away, and then the tail.

-- Norman McCaig