Going Within
A poem by Melanie Joy

Going Within

The sea retreats, 
leaving
gilled slices along the 
shivering shore. 
I gather green 
fishing net rope,
saving fish from 
their last breath fates.
I feel like Moby Dick,
entering a giant whale’s jaw.
Or was it a different story
of a boy being eaten by a whale?
(Such is my lack of religious education,
Google has to inform me that 
the story is of course that biblical 
tale of Jonah and the Whale.)
I ascend from her slippery 
cheeks to the upper shore,
where I enter her ribbed chamber.
I feel my own ribs constrict
and think of fear, what it would 
feel like to be swallowed 
by a whale.
I imagine similar 
to being 
swallowed by 
a poem,
whole.
I feel fear 
retreating, 
becoming 
sonorous 
somatic 
breath, 
expansive as
ocean’s gush.
The expansiveness of mind
that only quiet can find.
(NB: Add Moby Dick and 
The Bible to reading list)

About the Author:

Melanie Joy makes sense of her world through poetry. Her poetry threads together her inner and outer landscapes. West Kerry where she calls home provides the perfect backdrop for her capricious moods. Since May 2023, she has received mentorship with Máire Holmes through the Kerry Arts Council who has been extremely positive about the publishing potential for her work. She has had poems published in The Galway Review, Drawn to The Light Press, Smoke Magazine, on the Cloud Appreciation Society website and forthcoming with Dreich magazine.  Melanie has been invited to read poems from her first collection at Words by Water and Dingle Literary Festivals. 

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