Inwhale

 

I wasn’t swallowed by a whale

I was inhaled

inwhaled

I live in the lung of the whale

whale’s lungs are the largest lungs in the world

my twin was also inhaled and he lives

in the second lung

we speak by singing

we tried thumping messages against the lungs’ walls

but they were too distant 

the whale’s chest is enormous

and so we sang

first one then the other

my voice coming from the whale’s mouth

then my brother’s

did you hear that?

a voice

has our sister been swallowed

is she in the belly of the whale

is she singing too?

are we three swimming with the whale

midnight deep

where creatures make their own light

my brother says

the whale will come up for air

my sister says

the whale must come up for air

I say

soon it will become light in here

but only for a moment

 

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Elee Kraljii Gardiner sent me a post by artist Laura Kerr referring to the lungs of the blue whale. Whales are mammals like us, but there is something inspiring, otherworldly, planetary about how large they are and how the things that they do (like breathe) is both like and unlike us. And the fact that live in regions so foreign and mysterious. Also, they have songs and they communicate across vast distances. How they communicate, are alone, travel in pods. Their lung volume is around 5000L, about 1000x a human lung, and enough air to inflate about 2000 balloons! The 5000L of air in the lungs can be replaced in around 2 seconds.