Plight of the Wiggling Worm

Know ye the plight of unfortunate worm
Threatened demise before living full term
Hooked through the gullet and dipped in the drink
Lower and lower the Earthworm did sink

All became suddenly cloudy and wet
As far from warm soil as Earthworm could get
But who out there cared for the plight of invertebrate
No fancy feathers or colors to fascinate

Then from the distant green murk and the gloom
In swam his Mermaid salvation from doom
Lace fins and fineness, heart filled with kindness
She undeterred by the surface men’s blindness

‘There,’ said the siren, her words wrapped in bubbles
‘Let me unhook you from all of your troubles’
She took him back home where the wiggling-worms play
And spat in the fisherman’s eye on the way

Joseph John Racano
©@JosephJohnRacano/09/09/2020
Art: Pygar

Photo: Joivert

Cuttling with the Alien

I cuttled with an alien who looked just like a squid
Looking back it was the weirdest thing I ever did
More looks than a cameleon, a changeling of the highest order
Kind of like a rock who just refused to sink in water

His eyes were quite intelligent and gazed right into mine
His tentacles were delicate, in fact they were sublime
We spun up to the surface and we sank into the depths
Once we worked it out we just continued this in reps

I backed him up to coral and he turned fluorescent gray
Underneath his see-through skin a film began to play
I knew there was a message so I watched it 'till the end
'Starring Jacques Cousteau', it said, 'the ocean was his friend'

I forced the issue, pressed him back, he turned into an Amberjack
He wrapped his suckers 'round my waist, the strangest thing I ever faced
He used his beak to snap and stab, to my relief, he ate a crab
It's hard to cuttle, cuttlefish, but that was one delicious dish!

At sixty feet I drew a blank let out my breath and simply sank
But cuttlefish blew out a gush, a siphon-surge-to-surface rush
He flashed his colors blue to green and gave the sea a pastel sheen
It seemed to be a call for help, and other fish arrived with kelp

And there they left me off to float, no worse for wear and with a boat
Athough I drifted forty days, I never figured out his ways
The strangest creature in the sea, so alien to you and me
But brilliant of the lights and mind- a close encounter of the perfect kind!

Joseph John Racano
6/10/17

Crystal Cays

Beauty comes in many forms
Rarely does it follow norms
Beauty can be cold as ice
Reflections let you see it twice

Ice meet sky and sky meet water
Say hello to Neptune's daughter
Kayak meet the Minke Whale
Long may such friendships prevail

Thank you ice and arctic air
For the hardy souls who dwell down there
Down beneath your crystal fathoms
Sea abyss and rock fjord chasms

Minke Whale it's been a pleasure
Encounter I will always treasure
Swim in beauty all your days
May Krill find favor in your cays

Joseph John Racano

Architeuthis Night

Architeuthis the Kraken
How many have you taken
with no land in sight and
by their gods forsaken?

Your sinewy arms
are tendrills of harm
Sucker-lined tentacles
lashing the yardarm

Be gone from my sight
Back into the night
Like many a sailor
I'm near died of fright!

Take what you must
I ask only just
that you unwrap your tentacles
'round from our bust

So soft to the fist
Yet our ship starts to list
Be gone, ye Sea dragon,
back to your abyss

Joseph John Racano
11/26/15

Jellyfish Egg

Why do eggs look like a jellyfish
Sunny side up and a smelly fish
Bright little island surrounded by gelatin
Archipelago without any skeleton

Why would a chicken lay something
As easily cooked as a dumpling
Bikini Atoll very good on a roll
Protected by kitchen-witch Island patrol

Why must it smear on my sweater
Without it my manners seem better
The neatest of folk can get covered in yolk
The first time I held one it dropped and it broke

So why do eggs look like a jellyfish
Get cooked on a show on the televis
An island of goo that just ruined my shoe
Is edible Vaseline jelly it’s true

So sautee’ one up in the kitchen
Let breakfast be eggs final mission
Flip them don’t wait or they’ll stick to the plate
Jellyfish egg I forgive you, you’re great!

Joseph John Racano
11/16/15

                                                                                                              The Author

The Great Return

'Great Moana, Mother Ocean
Please accept my hearts devotion

Long ago you set me free
You let my kind crawl from the sea

Help us grow, oh great Moana
Droplet in a sea of Prana

Tucked beneath majado wings
Let us hear what Orca sings

Let the Sun reflect on Luna
Shine within the Bluefin Tuna

Great Moana, shine through me
And let's return to what should be'

Joseph John Racano
2/17/17

Orca Nation

Market driven, unforgiven
Captive orcas barely livin’
Lip service, gettin’ nervous
Each day more BS to serve us

Wifi bandwidth, have a sandwich
Poolside as the orcas languish
Have a killer whale to hang with
Don’t say freedom, watch your language

Every morning some new plan
Holding out long as they can
Amid the blaze out, try a phase out
As captive orcas live their days out

Captive shows are overrated
Seaworld underestimated
People’s fury, Blackfish surely
Turned them into judge and jury

Woke from slumber, unencumbered
Seaworld parks your days are numbered
Note to congress, you’re incongruous
Stop our bills but that won’t stop us

Orca Nation, indignation
Breeding program masturbation
Conservation organizations
Start sea pen rehabilitations

We’re the story, screw the press
They’re all under huge duress
Seaworld owns them just confess
Haven’t even seen our best

Joseph John Racano

Freedom for Lolita - Tokitae

Mysterious Orca

On land or by sea, we can say without fail
There's nothing so graceful as orca's smooth tail
Call it a paddle, call it a fluke
The darn thing is curvy and awesomely cute

It's lines are dramatic and hydrodynamic
And yes, it can sometimes cause others to panic
His means of propulsion fills some with revulsion
His echolocation the best in the nation

But orca will tell you he's more than a tail
He might take offense if you call him a whale
He likes when you ponder the mystery why
He has a white splotch painted over his eye

Nobody realizes orcas are black
Before they go out they paint white on their back
Many the secrets an orca does hold
Too great a dolphin for man to control

So let the boy out, seaworld, set the boy free
He doesn't belong in a tank, but the sea!
If he was bred captive we'll show him the ropes
We'll need a big jet so let's borrow the popes

Remember when Keiko was flown by the kids?
They landed in Iceland on waterplane skids
Now let go the dolphins let's get back to work
The glaciers are melting and Exxon's a jerk!

Joseph John Racano

Fragile Waters

Fragile Waters of our sons and daughters
Whales and salmon know no borders
Salmon are the key to the circle of life
The sea their husband, the forests their wife

A well-fed watershed
Church and steeple of indigenous people
Mighty orcas on the hunt
Our fates entwined, let's be blunt

Dam the rivers with our dams
Starve the beaches of their sand
Ruining soil, too much salt
A way of life brought to a halt

Orca leaping for a salmon
Shot right out of Neptune's canon
On the cycle fish return
Bears will eat, some trees will burn

Salmon body spreads nutrition
A mighty fishes final mission
Next spring offspring spring from redd
Ocean, man and forest fed

Mighty orca, show the way
Help us heal our hearts today
Let us honor sons and daughters
Passing down the Fragile Waters

Joseph John Racano

Whale College of Ancient Knowledge

The Whales have a college of ancient knowledge
Nobody knows where it is
But the knowledge, it's said, is kept in the head
Of each individual wiz

The Whales have a school, where brains are the tool
Location kept hidden from man
And somewhere at sea, free thinkers swim free
The masters of Earth's master plan

They keep their library aboard an old ferry
Only accessed from below
When they need a book, they know where to look
When finished they know where to stow

The Whales have a longing, a wish to be songing
But first they must bring back the quiet
They've built an invention to silence the engine
And soon will be ready to try it

The Whales need their brains to move shipping lanes
Away from where cousins are feeding
And bask in sun where it's oh-so-much fun
Without ship strikes to cause any bleeding

With many-a problem, the whales, to resolve them
Spend hours alone in the lobby
Poring through books, exploring the nooks
Believe me, it's more than a hobby

Whale fluke to starboard, Duke Yale or Harvard
We all know the hour is late
Whale University treasures diversity
All of us share the same fate

So next time you gaze on the open sea haze
Remember what's laying beneath
The Whales and their college of vast ancient knowledge
To which upon you they bequeath

Joseph John Racano
7/9/15

Magic Orca

Magic Orca out in space
Help us save the human race
Show us how to show respect
For the planet we neglect

Magic Orca oh-so-free
Show us all that we can be
Tell us all you have to say
Flying through the Milky Way

Magic Orca child of Moon
Seismic shift is coming soon
Help us leave behind our cage
Entering a brand new age

Magic Orca of the Sun
Help us fix what we have done
Free us from this selfish pool
Take us off to Orca School

Joseph John Racano

And the Meek Shall Inherit

A Lady Bug wears black dots on red
A Salamander hides beneath an old stream bed
All within a mile of where the core was fed
And the meek shall inherit the Earth

Deer play games on a grassy savannah
Prairie Dog village from the coast to Montana
Gulf Stream delivering minnows to Havana
And the meek shall inherit the Earth

Grasshopper drinks from a drop of dew
Pocket Mouse living in a worn out shoe
Gulls flying over an expanse of blue
And the meek shall inherit the Earth

Spider web hanging on an old tin can
Tumbleweeds roll where a road once ran
Sediment swallowing the traces of man
And the meek shall inherit the Earth

Joseph John Racano

Fishnado

I often go down to the Sea of Cortes
to sit on the bottom and hear what it says
Acoustics are great, the water is clear
And sometimes my eyes take in more than my ear

Such was the case when a giant Fishnado
Spun like a lasso from Paso Loredo
At seventeen fathoms with plenty of G-force
Led by an Amberjack riding a Seahorse

Clockwise it spun with inertia and motion
Stirring the bottom and clouding the ocean
Tail fin-to-nose the formation did clamber
I never found out why the Jacks were all amber

They spun counter clockwise with scales that flashed sterling
I bet to this day all those Jacks are still whirling
Suffice it to say in that part of the bay
Fishnado caused havoc while spinning away

Joseph John Racano

Ribbon Eel

A word if I may, to the Ribbon Eel
It's hard to explain how you make me feel
You conjure the image of a rainbow in motion
A fine beneficial use of the ocean

So easy to spot you when you're swimming by
The colorful fish on the reef start to cry
Imagine a pattern so wild and untamed
It even puts nudibranch families to shame

And still through it all, you aren't big headed
You take it in stride, blues and yellows imbedded
Knocking us out with your prism design
A submarine spectrum- that Moray is fine

epilogue-

(Please go back down to the reef where you dwell
I'm out of air, but this moment was swell
I'll always remember this meeting with you
You made an impression, as you always do

Joseph John Racano

Fish Head Stew

Everybody cry for the stripper of the sea
Feeling so entitled to his fishing industry
Now he has to find another way to stay afloat
Rightful owner started fishing underneath his boat

How did all the codfish ever just belong to you?
Stripping bare the ocean isn't very nice to do
Now the rightful owners come to make you pay your due
Please enjoy the fish heads, maybe you can make a stew!

Everybody cry for the fishing nets and gear
Whales are bending hooks and it's increasing every year
50 tonnes of whale and they're coming here to teach
Notice all the sea lions up starving on the beach

Everybody cry for the empty-handed kid
Fishing out the oceans leaving jellyfish and squid
You can make a chowder from the bait that's in your pail
School is now in session and your teacher is a whale

Joseph John Racano

21st Century Justice Squad

No cage too sturdy for a free-bound birdie
No wall so high to mute a dolphins cry
No corporation strong can withstand us long
Behold King Neptune's justice prong

Every whale set free welcomed by the sea
No financial institution immune to retribution
Every orca odd, we can find their pod
We are the 21st Century Justice Squad

Go Keiko, go Misha, go Tom and now Springer!
Go Luna and Tuna and Mermaide the singer!
Release them, adore them, if needed, march for them!
The old ways are through, and the new ways are true!

Not a captor before us who can ignore us
Not an orca drugger that we can't bugger
We've got a better place for your electric prod
We're the 21st Century Justice Squad

We're a broad cross-section, we vote in the election
We've got you by the balls, now for a change in direction
You thought you were above the law and ran rough shod
But you finally met your match, and we're the Justice Squad

Go Keiko, go Misha, go Tom and now Springer!
Go Luna and Tuna and Mermaide the singer!
Release them, adore them, if needed, march for them!
The old ways are through, and the new ways are true!

Joseph John Racano

(Springer the orca back with her pod, 3rd from top)

The Princess and the Whale

On a beautiful evening a long time ago
a princess set sail as the wind set to blow
At first it was easy, subtropical breezy
then wham, it began to start making her queasy

The sea became rough and she'd soon had enough
as it tossed her right out of the boat with her stuff
The next thing she knew she was miles off Peru
in a lifeboat for one that she wished had held two

She drifted for days contemplating her ways
but she had no regrets, she'd been kind all her days
Things became worse when she started to thirst
so she drank the salt water, her lungs set to burst

And just when all hope seemed to sink like a rock
something below her had started to knock
She dragged herself up and looked over the side
and there in the water a whale did reside!

'Thank goodness' she cried, 'are you rescuing me?'
But the whale remained silent, a mute of the sea
He arched up his back, put his dorsal to keel
'You're pushing me home now, is that what I feel?'

For two days and nights the whale stayed by her side
Pushing by day, with the outgoing tide
The mood became tense as the princess grew weak
At times all was lost and was seeming quite bleak

On the third day the princess was startled awake
by the crunchy-crush sound only beach sand can make
When she opened her eyes, she was safe on the shore
Off swam the whale, she would see him no more

The kingdom rejoiced the return of their gem
But she'd have none of it- 'We owe it to them'
She pointed her finger far out to the sea
and then every year, held a whale jamboree

The princess grew old and the throne fell apart
But never the gratitude held in her heart
On the night when the sea angels took her away
Her whale waited there at the mouth of the bay

Joseph John Racano
11/24/14

Art by Valentina Yaskina

The Blue Ones

The Ocean began as a source
A stage for gruff sailor discourse
Providing us fishes and stars for our wishes
Abundance a matter of course

Then someone invented the spear
Kept still so the fish would not hear
Refraction of light took years to get right
The fish were not where they appear

When someone invented the hook
The sea had to re-write the book
It hung from a pole, caught dover and sole
For up is where fish never look

Then someone invented the net
The most fish at once you could get
Thrown from the bank, it was tossed and it sank
The best way to feed people yet

Then somebody carved a canoe
Powered by oars and a crew
Rowed out to the deep where the sea monsters creep
Cut the time they spent fishing in two

Canoes then evolved into boats
Some carried chickens and goats
The nets were so large, they were hung from a barge
and their mouths were held open with floats

When someone invented the ship
It caused fish populations to dip
We declared it benign and ignored the decline
Said the man at the winch ‘let ‘er rip!’

Along came the processing plant
Making ‘can’ what was formally ‘can’t’
It screwed the Kahuna, made short work of Tuna
and even could label the cans

And now they’re out catching the blue ones
Those ‘look at this, call up the zoo’ ones
But take it from Neptune, that’s warning not festoon
When the ocean dies there are no new ones

Joseph John Racano

Bottom to the Top

A whale dives deep, where he usually feeds
Down where the ocean keeps her mystery seeds
He comes to the surface for the air he breathes
and pushes out nutrients the plankton needs

Top to the bottom, and the bottom to the top
Distribution expert and marine health cop
Ripe smelling, up-welling, never gonna stop
It started with a whoosh, lookout- he’s gonna pop

Some whales only like to feed on krill
Using their baleen so the food don’t spill
But others eat squid where the water’s chill
and have to dive deep enough to get their fill

Top to the bottom, and the bottom to the top
Distribution expert and marine health cop
Ripe smelling, up-welling, never gonna stop
It started with a whoosh, lookout- he’s gonna pop

Now you know the story of the oceans health
Who imagined whale poop as a source of wealth?
Admittedly, I was a bit surprised myself
Storing fertilizer on the Continental Shelf

Top to the bottom, and the bottom to the top
Distribution expert and marine health cop
Ripe smelling, up-welling, never gonna stop
It started with a whoosh, lookout- he’s gonna pop

Joseph John Racano

Scallop the Hammerhead

Mysterious deep water denizen gallops
using his fins and electrical scallops
Engaging in some esoteric behavior
Some of the reasons this shark needs a savior

Scanning the sea for electrical impulse
Swallowing whole as it grows to an adult
Gathering 'round as they circle the seamount
Too many dancers for scientists to count

Now that protections allow for reflections
Scalloped electro-glide rostrum detections
Please Mister Hammerhead, won't you reveal
all the complexities- what do you feel?

Already swimming in ritual fashion
back when the dinosaurs shared in your passion
Heart of the mystery, deep-rooted history
Scallop, the Hammerhead, now to discover thee!

Joseph John Racano

A Deep Friendship

Two crystalline fathoms below the weather
A Great Blue and I were out swimming together
It's true that I couldn't keep pace when she sounded
But so much the better, they hate to be hounded

I was there with a greeting and ready to learn
and listened intently upon her return
A few times I rubbed both my hands on her flank
She liked it, I know- her skin shriveled and shrank

Then just for a moment we met eye to eye
Amazing when something that big passes by
She gave me a look with that big baby blue
that asked, 'do you know me, or do I know you?'

Before very long she went sounding again
taking down with her a part of my zen
I clung to her flukes for a fathom or two
Letting her go when my ears popped, one-two

I stayed at the surface, eyes scanning the deep
Awaiting a bubble a click or a bleep
And just when I thought that her dive wouldn't end
I saw far below the return of my friend

She broke through the surface and spouted with force
that could have sent skyward six bulls and a horse
I turned my face up into showering rain
Earth knew the exhale of Mammoth again

A flip of the flukes and she vanished below
Back to the depths where leviathans go
I climbed in my boat and set course back for land
Sworn to return until I understand

Joseph John Racano

Dancing with the Manta

I was floating in a dream 'neath a coral cay
when a Manta Ray approached me in a spiritual way
He offered me a flipper-wing of sharkeen gray
and a chance to have a dance with the Manta Ray

At first I was afraid, my mind was full of dread
You can't imagine what was running through my head
If this had been a shark I might have wound up dead
And yet I was the star of a ballet instead

Positioned like a lotus in a dream-like state
I watched him twirl around and I could only wait
As graceful as a Nudibranch and flat as a slate
He beckoned me to grab a tail that moved like bait

Underneath his whitish parts were soft as a feather
We took a flying leap so he could check the weather
We meditated, danced around and swam together
Human arm in flipper-palm of shark-gray leather

Then he drew himself up to his great full height
Bowed to me as gracefully as birds in flight
I had to curtsey back, as it was only right
Then I said 'namaste' and he said, 'good night'

Joseph John Racano

Greatest Show in the Universe

All behold the Kissing Whale
For soon we may be missing whale
Wrap him in your human tentacles
Run your hand along his barnacles

Reach to him from inside out
Let him know there's love about
Dam the sonar seismic tests
Show him humans at our best

Pour sweet love into the sea
He will shine right back at thee
Give his watchful mom a nod
None who matter think it odd

Oh, the changelings we can be
Our love could calm the very sea
And land will have to follow suit
Rendering all the haters moot

Joseph John Racano

King of the Sea

There's something to be said for the King of the Sea
His thoughts are his own and his spirit is free
His father is the ocean and the sky is his mother
Take a good look at him now for there will never be another

The salty waters gift to him is buoyancy
Allowing him to reach the greatest size you'll see
Longer than a dinosaur and gentler than a lamb
He'd like to swim a river just to plow right through a dam

Everyone looks up to him, he's sleek and chic and blue
He can out-swim all the wahoos and his brain can out-think you
He likes to juggle elephants (but always does this gently)
If Orca is Mecedes Benz, the Blue Whale is a Bentley

So if you're swimming out at sea and something rushes past you
It may not be a submarine that you thought just harassed you
You may have gotten lucky, seen the world's most awesome thing
We don't all get to see it when the sea reveals it's King!

*As with birds of prey, the females are larger than the males. The largest Great Blue Lady on record was 94 feet long and weighed 174 tons! Let's keep these beautiful animals in mind
love and respect

Joseph John Racano

In Front of the Moon

Meet me at Midnight in front of the moon
On the ides, when it looks like a Spanish doubloon
Just dance on your tail and I'll know it is you
From my sparkling tiara you'll know it's me, too

I so adoring, and you, so adored
Many the lives you have saved overboard
Always seen smiling, a gentle sea dove
No matter who hurts you, you show only love

Still, I'm concerned what your future entails
so I'll blow you a kiss and put wind in your sails
Cross the expanse and get out of harms way
It's peaceful tonight but may not be by day

And if you remember twenty eighteen September
Having survived the loud noise and dismember
Meet me back here at the full of the moon
On the ides when it looks like a Spanish doubloon

Joseph John Racano

written during the seismic testing war vs Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant

The Learning Sea

There’s a beautiful gift someone gave to me
It’s shiny and blue and wild and free
Standing before her, I am humility
yet she kisses my feet as the Learning Sea

Filled with creatures both great and small
Her moods vary greatly, from sheer glass to squall
Who can never be contained by a man-made wall
In a thousand years, I could not know her all

And if you ever want to hurt her, I am sorry for your loss
Though you harpoon drown and fin her, she remains the boss
And it is only we can protect her, and must at any cost
for without her, we are orphaned, and our innocence is lost

Joseph John Racano
art: Terri Tylman

Modern Day Miracle in Avila Bay
(a true story)

Gather ‘round the fire, I’ve got something to say
it happened one July, out in Avila Bay
They came without a warning, but with a warning too
They said, “We know what’s coming! What the bad folks want to do.”

They swam around the bulkheads, they swam along the Piers
They showed up in the numbers that they hadn’t done for years!
They warned us of the coming storm, borne of greed and pain
They told us “Here we are, like we may never be again!”

I stretched my arm to reach one, and my finger touched his lip
I swear I wasn’t dreaming when he kissed my fingertip!
I knew his hairy bristle, not unlike my own
If he weren’t so darn big, I might’ve taken him home!

His eyes were pools of sepia jewels, his flippers, smoothe and flappy
I knew right off how wise he was, quite likely someones pappy!
He asked me if I’d fight for him, I answered “To the end!”
He dunked his snout and turned about, and swam off as my friend

Joseph John Racano

Sea Shepherd Society, Greenpeace and the author fresh from victory- with help from the whales

Three Cheers!

Great Whale of Avila you came when we needed you
even when low level seismics impeded you
And now we have found that the best way to arm you
is stand by your side against those who would harm you

and if we should all live a thousand more years
we never shall cry any happier tears
or smile any brighter, or sing louder cheers
than those we now offer your cetacean ears

Protected from dangers, by the kindness of strangers
Three cheers for our Coastal Commissioner Rangers!

Three cheers! Three Cheers! Three Cheers!

Joseph John Racano

photo: Dan Bacher

Little Giant

Keep up, Little Giant, you're swimming with the pod
The ocean's full of creatures, many dangerous and quite odd
Someday you may grow to be a whale like Moby Dick
But now, stay tucked beneath your mothers fin or you'll get sick

You cannot see the bottom, because the bottom's not around
The ocean floor below you is three thousand fathoms down
Wait right here and have no fear, try not to make a sound
The hunters are returning now -let's see what they have found!

A Giant Squid, still squirting ink, soon to be our meal
tentacles, beak and sucker disks, none you'd want to feel
Someday, Little Giant, you'll be sounding with rest
But now, stay with your mother, keeping warm against her breast

Joseph John Racano

The Elephant Seal

Behold the mighty Elephant Seal
Deepest diving, fangs of steel
He picnics at five thousand feet
Sharks and rays are his favorite treat

Imagine the cavernous throat-bellowing sound
When some two hundred thousand were on the ground
An indigenous nation now whittled down
to seventy five hundred or about there-around

Diving deeper than a whale, he has a rebreather nose
If you see him on the beach, be careful of his toes!
He's twenty feet long, weighing six thousand pounds
Give that boy some room when he's making his rounds

To find him, seek the Lighthouse overlooking Piedras Blancas
Helping to protect him is the best way you can thank us
If the world is to survive with its wilderness and zeal
It absolutely must include the Elephant Seal

Joseph John Racano

photo: Racano

Baby Gray

How many miles can you swim today
Mamas little boy, little Baby Gray
Born last night and you're ready to play
It's time to get ready for a beautiful day

Just lie still underneath the moon
(Things are always quiet in the birthing lagoon)
Mamas waking up and she will feed you soon
and while you're busy nursing she can sing you a tune

Your skin is smooth, no barnacles yet
It feels kinda neat, and makes you fun to pet
You're underneath the boat and you're getting me wet
And that's about as close as I really want to get

I know you're just a baby and you think you're small
But every time you splash me it's a waterfall
Of all the baby whales I like you best of all
And now it's time to go, I heard your mama call

Joseph John Racano

Sea of Retribution
(a mermaids prayer)

Beautiful Mermaid washed up on the beach
Driven by sonar's unbearable screech
Long have I wished you to come within reach
Even now, as your student I ask you to teach

Merman and Mermaid so streamlined and fair
Mermaid by virtue of long golden hair
Still holding hands, your loss too much to bear
Your whales went to die and you followed them there

Merman so loyal beached right by your side
He chose a true love over glory and pride
Easy to see when his Mermaid-love died
He climbed up a sea cliff and jumped o'er the side

Forever the children of Neptune's domain
You never knew sea spray was different from rain
Much less what navy ships might have to gain
by showering oceans with loudness and pain

And so, will Poseidon make sea levels rise
Impaling his trident between the blind eyes
of those who brought on your untimely demise
and all who Atlantis has come to despise

Joseph John Racano

Mermaid Song of Peace

Mermaid, play a song of peace
Draw out evil from its crease
Diluted in the deep blue sea
Let waves return our purity

Play harp in the key of love
Change the war hawk to a dove
Melt his heart that whale song may
subdue his sonar, rule the day

Long webbed finger knead the string
Show the war hawk how whales sing
Teach him why the gulls all gather
Not for chum or briny lather

Rather but to catch the sound
as whales return from diving down
Bringing back a brand new song
Take heed, Barack; take heed, Kim Jong

Joseph John Racano

A Dance with the Octopus

I met a Giant Octopus with skin as smooth as jelly
He used eight arms and sucker discs to wrap around my belly
As I swam away he used a tentacle to spin me
Off I twirled in a sub sea world as he came right back to pin me

He used his siphon like a jet to propel us through the water
Secured my hands in his sucker disc strands allowing me no quarter
Just before I could shout, "No more!", he released and turned me over
Took a quick step back, looked at Amberjack, and they shouted 'Bosa Nova'!

I had never danced with an octopus, it was very tricky going
He was leading with his one arm up and the other seven flowing
He dipped me to the ocean floor, the reef beneath my shoulder
I shouted 'help!' and grabbed at kelp, but it only made him bolder

He used his beak to nip my cheek, his discs to hold me tightly
For one brief moment I gave thought to if he did this nightly
He pulled me up close eye to eye, bowed deep and then released me
I bowed right back, and smiled at Amberjack

Oh how that dance had pleased me

Joseph John Racano

Dragon of the Sea

Two hundred million years ago
the ocean spawned a child
who never knew humility,
Zenith of the wild

It must have taken lightning strikes
to craft her streamlined form
And like the Kraken, teeth of spikes
Made malevolence the norm

On a mission eons long
to see the ocean cleansed
Palagic prowler, sea wolf howler
Never making friends

Skin like steel, feline senses
yet no match for gill-net fences
All things cower before her power
Yet hung from the hook of a sport-fish tower

She outlasted continents and outlived Rex
Whoever would have thought puny man would vex
Dragon of the sea, by the ocean’s own decree
Her dagger teeth were endless, but alas,

not so was she

Joseph John Racano

Children of the Sand

They awoke one morning 'neath a saphire sky
Innocence personified, who'd never learned to cry
The ocean was a-boil, there were dolphins in turmoil
The old ways weren't working and no humus in the soil

From the sea a voice was carried in, like carpet on the wind
It delivered to the mild something no one could rescind
The heart of planet ocean was placed into their hands
A humble troupe, at first, made up of kids from roving bands

The waves drew back a quarter league, exposing many shells
Each of them an arc with bright illuminated bells
The children picked them up, drawn by a distant humming sound
They all looked at each other saying, "What is this we've found?"

"Hello?' asked one, her hair in a bun as she pressed it to her ear
"Hello yourself" said the Continental Shelf, "You have no need to fear"
The others gathered closely, not one word would they miss
It isn't every day one gets to speak with the Abyss!

"You're wondering why I've called you, kind Children of the Sand."
They nodded like a plastic bobble-headed dashboard stand
"It's come to my attention that the waters now grow bitter-
Radiation, sonar blasts, old cigarettes and litter."

"And so I call upon you, the Children of the Sand
to rise like a Tsunami; it is time to make your stand."
The sound from every shell then spoke a language of the sea
Some spoke in whale, in Yellow Tail, and even Anchovie

But all the clams that chattered, all the Conchs that blew
carried just one message from the deeps of Ocean Blue
The Ocean is our mother, she gives us half our breath
she slapped our bottoms when we were born-

-she can also be our death

Joseph John Racano

The Orca's Way

Man doesn't understand the orca's way
A Man wants to work and orca likes to play
Both of them are good at how to skillfully slay
But man kills for sport; that's not the orca's way

Orca doesn't need to find a place to sleep
The ocean is his pillow and it comes so cheap
While man is out collecting what he should not keep
The orca is reflecting on the briny deep

To understand, put everything you know aside
Try to feel the way an orca does inside
When orca takes a wife, she'll always be his bride
And when he takes a life, it's not for foolish pride

Orca doesn't want to see a man in a cage
It doesn't give him pleasure it just causes rage
Try to understand, it's we who can't engage
We put him in a pool yet he's a timeless sage

Stop the car, turn around and tell them straight
"If you want to see an orca you'll just have to wait"
Teach it to your kid in front of seaworld's gate
It's time to let them go and no, it's not too late

Joseph John Racano

Salmonquest

Sleeping soundly in a dream
I swam with salmon in a stream
Through the night I did not rest
embarked upon my Salmonquest

Coho, King and Steelhead too
bade me get this word to you
Oh What a Rainbow Trout can be
should he just make it to the sea

And there live salty ocean years
until such time as spawning nears
When all are beckoned by the Earth
to gather at their streams of birth

A planet’s blood awaiting rains
An trek inland through nature’s veins
Sockeye, Coho, King Chinook
dance upstream to spawning brook

Fighting rapids white with foam
as Mother Forest calls them home
Both life and death await them there
The hand of man, the claw of bear

The Klamath, Yurok, Wailaki,
A hungry eagle from the sky-
With all the forest full and fed
eggs are laid inside a redd

epilogue-
Salmon fed the world for years but
Now the streams have turned to tears
Fight for Coho, take the test-
Join them on a Salmonquest

Joseph John Racano

Don't Call Him Dumbo

Please don't call him dumbo
He does look kind of fun though
His name is the Umbrella
He's a very handsome fella

At home three thousand fathoms down
Two wing-like fins like the ears of a clown

At twenty thousand feet
he is always under pressure
Living where the giant squid
are always out to getcha

We found him living deep atop
the Davidson deep- Seamount
Using a remote-controlled sub
On our deep umbrella sea-count

We came to the conclusion
This weirdo puss was no illusion
But please don't call him 'dumbo'
and we'll avoid all the confusion!

Joseph John Racano

The SeaWeed Tree

Colorful seaweed arranged on the beach
Often such beauty is not within reach
Cascading, sunbathing, salt Spanish moss
Graceful translucence and wet sandy gloss

Hanging akimbo like clothes on a line
Wearing the label of ocean design
Seaweed kaleidoscope when you look through it
Changes the view-scape should you choose to do it

Back in the ocean a bed for the otter
Dried into vitamins when it gets hotter
Sea-glass and crystallized ornament salt
Reflecting the beauty that all may exalt

Once a year hermit crabs come to the tree
Singing together the song of the sea
Just before sunset at the end of the day
The incoming tide comes to wash it away

Joseph John Racano

Night of the Mermaide

The moon was full, the sea was still
A mist drifted over the window sill
The great bell chimed, the clock struck four
I heard a jiggling at the old lighthouse door

I strained to see whom, through the wet and colored glass
When a space between the droplets revealed to me a lass
Sprawled upon the granite rock escarpment far below
A fetching form washed in from the storm, a-woman fish, don’t you know

The half of her was human, the most beautiful I had seen
From two hundred feet above I saw the flashing eyes of green
She sang a strangeling music one that tickled in the ears
Unbeknownst her kind had done the same for many years

She sang to me a song about a world some fathoms down
Where shrubbery anemone guard fish who dress as clowns
Where Nudibranchs pull harmless pranks bedazzling the eyes
And nightfall brings the deeper things like cuttlefish to rise

I climbed into the lantern room, where lighthouse wears a crown
Tilted that good lamp to get the beacon shining down
And out upon the water saw amid such heavy fog
This fish-tailed woman’s servants circling, each one like a frog

“We live!” she cried in a pipe-organ voice, and the whole sea took a turn
Whitecaps, wind and slapping water caused the wash to churn
Thunder came a-booming from such places up on high
Pounding cold torrential rain and sleet down from the sky

Luminous white-lightning split the heavy salten air
And when at last I looked back down, was she no longer there!
Then all settled back into a peaceful and repose
And I went back inside to take up pen and write this prose

Joseph John Racano
©@JosephJohnRacano/08/28/2013

alternate:

Night of the Mermaide

The moon was full, the sea was still
A mist drifted over the window sill
The great bell chimed, the clock struck four
Something was a-jiggling at the old lighthouse door

I strained to see whom, through the wet colored glass
when a space between droplets revealed me a lass
sprawled on the craggy escarpment below
A seeming half-woman-half fish, don’t you know!

The most beautiful woman that I ever saw
Two hundred feet up I was stricken with awe
She sang a strange music that tickled the ears
Just as her ancestors had done through the years

She sang of the mystery, fathoms below
Down in the deep where the Angler fish glow
Davidson Seamount that was her home
Inspiring the poet to write her a poem

I wanted to tell her that I understood
Was willing to help her explore if I could
I promised this mermaide to help save the sea
The clock struck again at 4:53

I climbed to the lantern room, up in the crown
and pointed the lamp ‘till that beacon shone down
And out in the water amid heavy fog
I saw there her sea-servants each like a frog

“Beware!” came her cry, and the sea took a turn
Whitecaps and wind caused the waters to churn
Thunder came booming from places on high
And torrents of sleet pounded down from the sky

Luminous lightning split salt heavy air
When I looked back down, she was no longer there
Then all settled back to a peaceful repose
And I kept my promise by writing this prose

Joseph John Racano

The Devil You Say

Fifty-three men on the bottom rest
Yo ho ho and a dead man's chest
Forces of nature did end their quest
Yo ho ho on a dead man's chest

Sonar shooted out a shrieking sound
Came yon sea vermin gathered all around
Who comes a-banging on the denizen's drum?
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

Two hundred feet long with a twenty foot beam
Down where the fathoms can hide any scream
Yo ho ho they attacked that boat
Sent her crew where the dead men float

Submarine shrieking out sounds no more
Diesel breathing devil’s on the ocean floor
Yo ho ho and it was over quick
Life jackets floating on an oil slick

epilogue
Irreverent spoilers of the sacred brine
Stick flags in the reef declaring, ‘this is mine’
Nations at war for dwindling resources
Leaving Mother Nature but few recourses

The ocean gives her bounty but we’re taking it all
So she summons up Leviathan to answer the call
And mighty Architeuthis finds the weak point in
To Davey Jones Locker with your vile submarin’

end
Joseph John Racano
©@JosephJohnRacano/4/25/2021

The Mermaide Queen

Among the kelpen forest
Beneath the roiling waves
I searched for ancient treasure
On a wreck once oared by slaves

A thousand fish of bright design
Swarmed about my shoulders
Their bubbles intermixed with mine
Like tiny rising soldiers

And there upon a coral reef
With swirling tresses green
A she-fin thief who stole my heart
Such beauty never seen

Our meeting was but short and brief
Though all my love I did bequeath
Her mermaide’s name she did not say
As she flipped and twirled and swam away

Joseph John Racano
©JosephJohnRacano/08/23/20
artwork: Annmaria48 at Deviantart

Penny Trout

Let me tell you ‘bout a girl her name was Penny
Went to the aquarium a time too many
Tapping on the glass when the fish would pass
Goddess of the captives heart of solid brass

Penny went to school and when the class was over
Texted all her friends and they piled in the rover
Laughing on the freeway down to San Diego
Just to watch the seaworld ‘lunch with orcas’ day show

Never gave a moment’s thought
How they’re raised or why they’re caught
Using Mastercard to buy a frozen fish
Tossing them into the pool to make a selfish wish

Then one day a storm blew in and with it came King Neptune
Penny putting makeup on returning from the restroom
Came a bolt of lightning and the world turned inside out
Now she’s in a seaworld tank, they call her Penny Trout

©@JosephJohnRacano/08/09/2020

Apalachicola Bay

Woke up with a verve today
Went to see the dolphins play
Synchro-dolphins I dare say
Apalachicola Bay

Twisting starboard, twirling port
Taking time mid-air to court
Any words would come up short
Forgive my second-hand report

On the surface not a trace
Deep below, frenetic pace
Caution when the dolphins race
You may get two flukes to the face

Come and watch the synchro team
Rise above the morning steam
Dancing on the water’s gleam
World class gymnasts on the balance beam

Jumping, breaching twisting ‘round
Then re-entry as they sound
Hopping skipping backward-bound
Oh such joy have dolphins found!

Zipping bullet submarines
Past our bow elicit screams
Playing two-for-one it seems
Neath the blue aquamarines

Cackling dolphins on their backs
Juggling tasty fishy snacks
Sharing bits with amberjacks
Weekie-watchie to the max

Come to Apalachicola
Bring two cans of coca cola
That’s our show folks now ‘viola!’
Next up it’s the giant Mola

Joseph John Racano

photo by: John B. Spohrer, jr.