It was a classic meet-cute situation. A café on the edge of town. No free tables. He asked to sit at mine, and how could I say no to his cosmic eyes? We chatted, and, abiding by all the laws of a meet-cute, we had lots in common; both from broken families; both far from home; both pursuing our dreams. It seemed meant-to-be. 

Next Thursday was quieter, but he sat with me anyway, and we wished each other luck in upcoming job interviews. The week after, we bubbled with excitement: two strangers so proud of each other's successes.

  Sometimes, we met up on Saturdays, watched films, went to funfairs. We never missed a Thursday morning coffee. And just like our relationship, our careers were flourishing. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

  We made a vow one Thursday - the one before our wedding - that we would always have our Thursdays, no matter what. We were naïve, but so in love, and that was enough.

 

For the next few months, the stars in my husband's eyes had never been brighter. The redundancy and the money troubles didn’t matter. And then they did.

  Two weeks before our anniversary we missed the first Thursday, and as the year progressed we missed them more frequently. Then, one Thursday, we were signing divorce papers. Love wasn't enough.

 

Two months after the divorce, we met up again. I showed him the pregnancy test, and his galaxy eyes filled with tears. It couldn't repair us. Now our Thursday mornings are dedicated to our daughter changing hands.

 

One day, she'll have her meet-cute. And they'll bond over being from broken families, far away from home, pursuing their dreams. Perhaps love will be enough for them.

I stood rigid and cold,
Tall, yet exposed. Naked. 
The harsh season had arrived
Where everyone was doing their best to survive, and
I was a bystander. 
People never noticed,
And hardly anyone passed. 

One day
Someone came to tear me down;
They were all hungry 
to see my fall. 

First their hunger was small
Sticks and stones 

It raged, corrupted on their tongues
From words to blades and rope.
Tying me down, holding me – down, tearing – me – down,

Leaving me hollow.

Trunk, branch, stick, bark
Nothing more
They thought. 
But from the cavity,
With the onset of spring,
Came the blossom.

I bloomed.

“their beauty”

She doesn’t want them to be hunted and killed but it’s life and death for the inghuit people and the narwhal will feed loads of people. It’s a dilemma because she doesn’t know if it’s right for these animals to be hunted. 

 

In this quotation, the writer was not sure what she was feeling as the Narwhal was going to get killed. The writer, Herbert had a dilemma; her heart leapt for both hunter and Narwhal as “she urged the hunter on in her head…he was so close and so brave to attempt what he was about the do.” Here, Herbert was very excited for the hunter and still was routing for him to kill the Narwhal, but on the other hand, Herbert was also feeling very sorry for the Narwhal as she didn’t want its life to be ended. This is why Herbert said, “at the same time my heart also urged the Narwhal to dive, to leave, to survive” which is why Herbert’s heart dropped for both animal and human as she had a dilemma, a big dilemma.

Stretching out as far as you could view

But underneath narwhals swam free

If only they had a clue…

 

Narwhals are essential to us

I knew they were needed to survive

And that wasn’t a topic to discuss

But why should it be them who die and us alive?

 

Why couldn’t I just accept the truth?

We don’t have enough to survive without them

The whole affair to me just seemed uncouth

And this is something everyone would condemn

 

I want the narwhal to escape

How could we kill something that seemed so magic?

Why should we deprive them of the seascape?

But our lack of food could turn out tragic

 

Did our needs outweigh theirs?

Who is top dog around here?

Aren’t we people who should truly care?

If we carry on will they just disappear?

 

This is the only thing keeping us from disease

We do put everything to good use

And shouldn’t that put me at ease?

But do people just see that as an excuse?

 

I love my people and our land

And the narwhal are close to my heart

The reason for the hunting I understand

I just wish sometimes the narwhal would get a head start

 

 

I wrote this to convey the dilemma the writer faces over the protection of these narwhal and the survival of her own people. She expresses her feelings of a split decision throughout the entire piece as this poem was inspired by the quotes ‘my heart leapt for both hunter and whale’ and ‘I urged the narwhal to dive, to leave, to survive’ as these two quotes accurately sum up her confusion and mixed feelings about the events. She has to present both sides of the issue and then try to decide which one is the best of two bad decisions.

 

I was all alone,

everyday

and it got worse day by day.

 

I tried hard: fought every day,

But it never worked for me.

 

Once I tried to be creative.

Everyone laughed. 

I cried.

 

Creativity never worked for me.

 

Once miss Lucy called me,

I went to her

And she told to me

It’s ok to not be creative 

And since then, everything 

Worked out for me.