The Critics’ Corner

“The Whale Hunt”

with Cleveland W. Gibson and Kai Laursen

Kai Laursen’s “The Whale Hunt” appears in issue 404.

[Cleveland] I enjoyed reading the poem. Once whale hunts were great events so I can see how all the rituals had their place in folklore for luck , etc.

But the whale had the last word. And that made me wonder if this was based on the myths and stories like those about seals and the Shetland Islands, etc.

Well done for that last line of mystique.

Cleveland W. Gibson

[Kai] Thank you for your kind words. The cultural context that inspired “The Whale Hunt” poem is the Makah tribe located on the coast of Washington State. The Makah continue to hunt the whale on a very limited basis, and the hunt is controversial.

You might also enjoy reading David Wagoner’s book Who Shall Be the Sun. In this book Wagoner translates native myths and stories into poems. “The Whale Hunt” is different in that it was not based on a particular story.

You are right, the whale (hunt) certainly is a rich symbol. This poem was inspired by your letter:

You Are Not Who I Thought I Was

The whale has the last word as it rises up in smoke,
As if immortality was given on the other side.
Like a trickster, the whale plays with Tilkut’s ego.
He danced like a pine bough in a gentle wind.
There are one-way mirrors and two-way mirrors.
Relationships in flux are often awkward.
I was being dismembered, remade and initiated.

Best,

Kai Laursen