NEW: Souvenir by Amanda Deutch

Souvenir
for João

A tiny
piece
of whale bone
thumbprint

sized
flat, smooth
ridged along
perimeter

ink
etches
carved
into its surface—

a sketch
of a man
with a harpoon
& a whale

with
a wound
(this piece
of scrimshaw

is evidence
of who won—
if the whale
had made it,

I wouldn’t
be holding
it’s cold bone
in

my
palm.)
a
whale with a wound

My guess
is that
both man
and whale

put
in
a valiant
effort. You

gave this to
me, insisted
I take home,
a souvenir

from
the
Azores.
I would

have
preferred
you.
but

all
along
I had
hoped

I’d find
a cold
piece
of

whalebone
drawn
upon
(scrimshaw)

and there
that first
night
in

your cabin
after whisky
and tea,
you reached

into a corner
pulled out
a box
of

treasures
you’d found
while spear fishing,
diving

in the icy
Altlantic
Ocean—
bones,

glass
bottles,
pieces
of plates.

“Here,”
you said,
“You must
take this.

Secretly,
like a child
looking at
someone

else’s toys,
I’d really
wanted it.
You gave

it to me
over a
glass of
water

and
a wicked
smile.