it comes in waves
Poetry
Pushcart Nominee 2023
The whale surfaced before us, arriving unawares
I knew it was an angel
by the wings covering its feet
Emerging like childbirth without labor
parting the legs of the sea
pushing, irresistible, water breaking
a crowning, the head appears
and a breath was taken
I think it was mine
Reborn into our world at each chosen breath
we, onlookers, rejoiced at its appearance
mistaking a miracle as a thing of joy
as the naive so often do
People dream of seeing an angel
but proof of God is a terrible thing
and death follows in its wake
It floated there, so alien
yet so much more natural than I
commanding without interfering,
as humans don’t alone, where once so many angels flew
it hovered before me, still and silent
the answer to questions
I still don’t know to ask
men no longer call upon the gods of the sea
not until they are floundering
nor do they remember the fate of Jonah
after leviathan spit him out
An omen then, a ghost sent by Dickens
to point toward the future and silently accuse
we always think it points to us
when lately it’s been all about children
and God’s choice to let them die
The angel descended and was gone
taking my faith down with it
and I wondered if I turned to look back
just for a moment
if I would be turned into salt
Perhaps the sea itself is composed
of all those souls
who saw the angel before me
and longed for just one more glance
Mark Hendrickson is an emerging poet who recently relocated to the Des Moines area. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Synkroniciti Magazine. Before becoming a poet, Mark worked for many years as a mental health technician in a locked psychiatric unit. He has advanced degrees in Music, Health Information Management, and Marriage & Family Therapy.