You may not know this, only a handful do, but on the coasts of Portugal, the North Island of New Zealand and on the Big Island of Hawaii, I am know NOT as The Noisy Plume, but as The Whale Rider.

I sing their song; I braid barnacles in my hair. When I swim the ocean I leap from the waters, for the sake of pure joy, to flash my wet skin in the sunlight. I drum the rhythms of my heart on the surface of the sea. I sing out to the ones I love and when I feel the dark depths of sadness, I consider launching my body out onto the sand to protest the woes of the world. I am The Whale Rider. They carry me on the broadness of their backs and I carry them in my soul. And always, we remind each other to stay humble and live righteous. For simply put, our job as humans is to remember our size in the universe and to live virtuously in our world.

Sing it.

Sing it.

Sing those words.

Emblazon them on your heart strings

and pluck a song of glad tidings.

Inspired by the humpbacks I saw launching their titan bodies from the sea while

I clapped for them and I listened to their whale song.

Together we sat and swam in silence.

They’ll carry me through. I know it. And they’ll be:

my hair, I’ll wear the memory of them around my hips.