Another summer shimmers on the horizon. Already, the days lean long into evening and yards (and vacation plans) bloom bright. Yet, the specter of 2022’s drought and searing heat looms large in spite of our ingrained infatuation with the season. Somehow, though, we sally forth towards the solstice, our “two-part” brains now both blissful and on-guard.

Milt & Louise’s Whale Show in Dana Point

by Paul Marion

After we paid for tickets, senior discount,

A woman led us to a barn-like space on the

Harbor where a couple had been talking about

Whales, a show they could take to Las Vegas,

The tall man, Milt, a clone of old Bill Clinton,

Down to tilted head, bitten lip, precise

Pauses, and long fingers shaping the tale.

Louise, his partner, sat near, popping

Out of her seat with crucial details and

More hand language. They asked if we

Knew that whales never fully sleep and

Have a two-part brain that can’t shut down,

because half must always remember to

surface for the next precious breath.

Paul Marion is the author of the poetry collections Lockdown Letters and Union River and editor of Jack Kerouac’s early writing, Atop an Underwood. He, also, is the founder and publisher of Loom Press. Paul Marion lives in Amesbury, Mass.