Half-Dreams of Siren Songs

Now published online by 'Words for the Wild'.

I’m delighted to be able to reveal that my prose-poem ‘Half-Dreams of Siren Songs’ has been selected by ‘Words for the Wild’ for publication in their online collection. If, like me, you love cetaceans in all their varied forms, then I hope you enjoy this paean honouring their intelligence, emotional expression and longevity.

“The Note surges out of her like hungry Cousins hunting the Shallows, giant bone and scarred skin transparent to its passion and beauty. Sweet and plaintive, it is a Note for the surviving thousands, moulded by millions before.”

I spent some time on the island of Tenerife last November, ostensibly to edit a novel, but also hoping to catch a glimpse of a cetacean or two. This combination of land and sea inspired me to write this short piece of poetic prose, an attempt at ingressing into one of their alien minds, to speculate on how they might think, feel, love and – of course – sing.

My imagination and subsequent writing have been stimulated and inspired by several sources other than the never-ending Atlantic rollers and tear-inducing sightings of great whales swimming between equator and poles, including:

• David Attenborough's tear-inducing narration on the tragic deterioration of the Earth's warming poles in the recent 'Frozen Planet II' TV series.

• The unexpected gathering of sperm whales described in the eponymous book published as part of the 'Blue Planet II' TV series (pgs 226-229).

• On Sonorous Seas was a recent multi-media exhibition led by Hebridean artist Mhairi Killin as part of a multi-disciplinary artist collaboration, hosted by the An Tobar gallery on the Isle of Mull (Inner Hebrides, UK). It was inspired by her experience of a mass whale stranding event and explored the complex relationship between the militarisation of Scotland’s waters and its biodiversity. Bringing together science, sculpture and sound, the exhibits told the story of how our oceans are becoming increasingly polluted with human-created noise, which is very likely killing whales. I encourage you to watch the introductory video and listen to one of the podcasts.

• Two contrasting books on whale and other animals' methods of communication: 'How To Speak Whale' (by Tom Mustill and William Collins) and 'The Sounds of Life' (by Karen Bakker).

• Arthur C. Clarke's short story 'A Meeting with Medusa' – because what else did he do (along with several other authors) but transpose a liquid environment into a gaseous one?

• And last, but by no means least: Heathcote Williams’s transformative book ‘Whale Nation’, which I first read more than three decades ago. It remains one of the most powerful arguments for a total worldwide ban on whaling.

As you can see, these marvellous mammalian cousins have been inside me for a long time. Or perhaps it’s the reverse: I’m a ‘Jonah’ instead of a ‘Johnathan’…

Thank you for taking an interest in my writing and cetaceans everywhere - both large and small. Feel free to add a comment below.

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