at Station 8
at Station 8
by
From A Littoral Zone
Carrefour Press/David Philip, 1991
© 1991 by Douglas Livingstone. Used with permission.
(Posted March 6, 1998 · Issue 26; archived March 6, 1998)
Note: Station 8 is one of the beach sampling stations along the coast of Natal, South Africa, where Livingstone, a marine biologist, collected specimens.
Far out and unconfined, you mope
old pea-brained survivor
- Latimeria chalumnae -
coping with four fin-feathered legs,
doing grave headstands in the dark,
armoured with condescension behind
the grim profile of a misanthrope.
Early Devonian cousin,
is it 400 million years
since your lot side-stepped the slow-motion
sundering of Gondwanaland?
Bwana Coelocanth, in royal blue,
still trundling about the Comores
in your casque, your jointed cranium.
Ancient funny-bone of God
- may your shadow never grow less -
what prodigies have you seen
and ignored as you elbowed
your way through the ooze? What other fish
can hinge a stiff-necked head high,
poised for a regal nod?
What awes me - fish from long ago -
is not the muddying of your chaps
when waves clawed 200 meters up
or below today's makeshift shores,
nor your changeless chinless lineage,
but your fathers squirting on eggs
to sire everyone I know.
Douglas Livingstone (1932-1996) is generally regarded as South Africa's leading contemporary poet. He was a marine biologist for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research at Congella, and later an environmental consultant. His writings include plays, essays, poetry translations, and seven collections of his poems.