<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><h1 data-v-197036e9="" itemprop="name" class="card-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; line-height: 3rem; color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial;"><font style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;" size="4" class="">Song for the Turtles in the Gulf</font></h1><div class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">We had been together so very long,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">you willing to swim with me</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">just last month, myself merely small</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">in the ocean of splendor and light,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">the reflections and distortions of us,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">and now when I see the man from British Petroleum</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">lift you up dead from the plastic</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">bin of death,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">he with a smile, you burned</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">and covered with red-black oil, torched</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">and pained, all I can think is that I loved your life,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">the very air you exhaled when you rose,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">old great mother, the beautiful swimmer,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">the mosaic growth of shell</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">so detailed, no part of you</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">simple, meaningless,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">or able to be created</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">by any human,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">only destroyed.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">How can they learn</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">the secret importance</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">of your beaten heart,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">the eyes of another intelligence</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">than ours, maybe greater,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">with claws, flippers, plastron.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">Forgive us for being thrown off true,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">forgive our trespasses,</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">in the eddies of the water</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">where we first walked.</span></div><div class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(20, 25, 33); color: rgb(20, 25, 33);" class="">Linda Hogan</span></div></div></body></html>