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By Pat Conroy Submitted by Vishal Date: 2002 Feb 25 Comment on this Work [[2002.02.25.10.40.23611]] |
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I once read in a book that traced the natural history of blue whales that the creatures often have to travel thousands of miles through the dark waters of the Pacific Ocean to find a mate. They conduct their search with the fever and furious attention of beasts aware of the imminence of extinction. As whaling fleets deplete their numbers, scientists conjecture that there are whales who exhaust themselves in fruitless wanderings and never connect with any mate at all. When I read about these solitary leviathans, I feared I had stumbled upon an allegory of my own life, that I could spend my life unable to make a connection, unable to find someone attracted by the beauty and urgency of my song. Sometimes I feel like an endangered species. |