Every Friday I have to drop my son at work very early. this is a good excuse for me to have an early morning beach walk – usually at my favourite dolphin-spotting beach. The dolphins dictate how far I walk, because if there are no dolphins (which is rare) I just walk the length of the beach and turn around again. But if they’re there, I tend to walk further, but will change my direction regularly so I can keep them in sight and find it hard to leave the beach while there are dolphins in sight. After these walks I often tell my family I’ve been ‘walking the dolphins’ and, of course, this has lead to a poem.
Look closely – there are two dolphins INSIDE the wave, having a ride.
Walking the Dolphins
Some people like to walk their dogs
I see them in the park
From early in the morning
Until late, long after dark.
Some dogs on leads; others romp
Or fetch a stick or ball
Some owners watch their dogs from seats
Not walking much at all.
Me? I walk the dolphins
The pooches of the sea
Up and down the beach I go
And dolphins follow me
I’m on the sand, they’re further out
But I watch them swim and play
Some times they jump and flap about
And sometimes gently sway
I hardly note how far I’ve walked
Up and down the shore
Watching cetaceous friends cavort
Just leaves me wanting more
And later on it comes to me
As I turn back from the sea
It’s not me that’s been walking them
But they that have walked me.
(Poem copyright Sally Murphy 2017)
In case you you haven’t seen it before, here’s my favourite bit of video of one of ‘my’ dolphins coming closer to say hello.
Wow! What a wonderful experience! I can’t believe this is your ROUTINE!
Thanks Ruth. yes, I’m very lucky.
Oh, what fun! I love this clever poem, Sally!
Thanks Kiesha 🙂
Fun poem Sally, the ending reminds me of a poem by Shel Silverstein, I’ll have to look for it! And how fortunate to have these lovely dolphins so close to you!
Thanks Michelle. I love Shel Silverstein so glad if I remind you of something he did.
Oh, oh, oh! I simply love it, Sally. I’ll think of your poem the next time I walk the surf.
Thanks Alice. I like that we will kind of be walking together, through poetry.
How lovely! You are truly blessed to have this wonder within walking distance! I can well understand being lured on by these beautiful and playful creatures.
Thanks Violet. Yes I am very lucky indeed.
Oooh, I want to walk the dolphins, too. Let’s make a deal — you can come to Nebraska and see the snow Billy Collins wrote about it, and I’ll head down there to see your dolphin friends. 🙂
Deal. Though I’d still want to come back to my dolphins 🙂
I love the sweet whimsy of this poem! Keep on walking those dolphins!
Oh I will Molly!
I need to admit my jealousy before I comment. Gosh, I wish I could walk the dolphins! You bring a lovely sense of play to this poem…the twist at the end of the dolphins walking YOU is great. My favorite line is “pooches of the sea”. LOL. That is the truth, isn’t it!?! Well done.
Have a great week.
Thanks Linda. So very true.
Sally, I LOVE your poem. You really captured the experience. You must live in an amazing place! It looks beautiful. Sadly, I’m a few hundred miles from the ocean so I don’t get there but once a year. Thanks for the video. I really enjoyed it. That dolphin looks very friendly!
Thanks Linda. Glad to be able to share.
Fabulous Sally! I love the pooches of the sea! lol! We have bottlenose dolphins here in the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. You are right, it is hard to leave the beach if there are dolphins there
Thanks BJ.
You are so lucky to be able to have them “walking you”, Sally. I can watch dolphins often when we go to the beach each year, so now I’ll remember that they might be “walking me”. Love that peek in the picture, too.
Thanks Linda.
What a wonderful place to walk and a wonderful poem to celebrate it. I was in Puerto Rico last week and was thrilled when a manatee surface right beside my paddleboard. I swear it smiled at me as it blew bubbles!
Wow kay. That would have been amazing.
I like your ending very much.
Thanks Brenda.
Wow! Love your dolphin, Sally. Are you on a rock wall, or something, to be overlooking it like that? No wonder you’re fit enough to swim with dolphins – it’s all the walking that they get you doing! 🙂
Yes, Kat, I am on a little viewing platform/fishing spot on a rock wall. And yes, the walking should be making me fit 🙂
Oh, how wonderful! We have orca whales in our part of the ocean, but they rarely come close to the shore, so we don’t often get to see them. I’ve only ever seen dolphins on TV – how exciting it must be to see them right in front of you!
I would love to see an Orca Jane. We have them further south from me but, as you say, they tend to be a long way out. But it is really wonderful to see dolphins up close so often.