[Essay] Waves

By Wendy K. Mages

I am standing on the pier, observing my colleagues as they mentor aspiring science teachers. The teachers-in-training are learning to evaluate the clarity, temperature, PH, and oxygenation of the harbor water, and record their findings.

Boarding the boat, we head oceanward, hoping to see the whales before they migrate toward warmer waters. I (erroneously) convince myself this glorious day—sunny, warm, clear—is sufficient, even if no whales appear.

We identify a variety of seabirds, including swans, an invasive species (nonetheless, my favorite). Two seagulls trail our boat, perhaps mistaking us for fishers who might discard tasty entrail tidbits.

No whales. I suppress twinges of disappointment.

Splash! We gasp, as an enormous humpback whale breaches, waving a pectoral fin.

I am overjoyed, reverent, and awed by its magnificence.

Another humpback breaches, waving, almost flirting.

Delighted, we flirt back, waving, celebrating nature’s majesty.

Wendy K. Mages, a Mercy University Professor, is a Pushcart Prize nominee and an award-winning poet and author. She earned her doctorate in Human Development and Psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her master’s in Theatre at Northwestern University. As a complement to her research on the effect of the arts on learning and development, she performs at storytelling events and festivals in the US and abroad. To learn more about her and her work, and to find links to her published stories and poetry, please visit her Mercy University Faculty page https://www.mercy.edu/directory/wendy-mages and her website, Wendy Mages: Storyteller https://sites.google.com/view/wendy-mages-storyteller