Dialogue #1

Once, and not too long ago at all,

a great grey seal called Solanna
gave birth to a girl calf seal.

She named her Solanna the Younger,
and no seal was ever so proud of its calf.

You'd think none of the rest
of us ever had a calf before.

The old ones cackled on the rocks

as they watched Solanna the Elder
flick the baby seal with her nose.

They were only jealous because
the bull seals no longer fought over them.

They spat fishbones at the other seals
and hit out with their weak old feet.

Solanna the Elder
didn't even notice them.

All day and night she spent her time
minding Solanna the Younger

suckling her, finding her
the softest pieces of crab,

and the sweetest
seagrasses to eat

and mackerel that wriggled between her
teeth as she fed them to the young calf.

At night in the caves, Solanna the Elder
spread out on a wide ledge

with Solanna the Younger
underneath her.

Sometimes a mermaid or two
would come to admire the baby seal

and sing her lullabies
in the dark hushed cave

and when the
mermaids didn't come,

Solanna the Elder
would sing her calf to sleep

for seals have
very fine singing voices.