Eel and Whale in Reykjavik (9-9-'99)

Eel and Whale in Reykjavik
(9-9-‘99)

In Reykjavik, one evening
I walked into a restaurant
(with a visiting female)—
ordered:
thick slices of eel,
slices of thin cut whale,
rolled in syrup like gravy
with potatoes and rice
(in the day, month and year of 9-9-’99);
rolled up my white evening shirt,
then took a bite of her dish
and she a bit off mine.
….
We sat and talked, a while, thereafter,
I with my coffee and coke,
Her with a glass of dry red wine,
she even had a smoke,
but I didn’t mine.
….
Then all of a suddenly,
our plates disappeared,
along with the vinegary and mustard,
and her empty glass of wine.

“I enjoyed the whale,” I told her,
and she said to me,
“So did I, and the wine.”

I thought, as I walked her
to her hotel, in the rain,
it was simply nice, to have had a night
with good company,
a stranger I had met on a boat,
off the coast of Reykjavik,
and no complaints.



#2186 1-27-2007 (2:45 PM), now looking back, remembering my long weekend in Reykjavik, and a few incidentals that took place, it was a wondrous four days there. The people were friendly and kind, alas, the prices were sky-high. And outside of the city, a few hours north, are beautiful cliffs, and a lighthouse, all memorable sites. Please do not take this poem as one saying whale killing is right or wrong, I just simply enjoyed the meal, right or wrong. I do not protest, nor do I march for anyone. In Egypt I bought Ivey, some man said to me, “How can you do that, the poor elephant!” I did not kill the elephant, I explained to the man, and in Egypt it is legal to buy ivory, or was in 1998, for I bought it publicly, yet the man felt he had a duty to display his anger with my purchase, I told him a few other things, I will leave out of this narration, for it was not going anywhere, if not in circles, and I have the nice sphinx of Ivey to this day, and do not regret buying it, as I do not regret eating eel and whale (although the eel, I would not repeat). So I seem to go with the flow, and the rules of each and every country, I don’t make them, nor march for them, I simply go by them. I do hope you enjoy the poem (if it offends you, don’t read it again.)