A Whale's Tail

At a place called Kiakoura, the other day
There was a thirty foot whale, in distress in the bay
A crayfish pot, and rope, around the whales body was wrapped
It struggled, and struggled, slowly its strength was being sapped
So a group of men, out in a fishing boat went
To see if they could help, before the whale was entirely spent
Scuba gear on, into the water went Tom
Around to the whales head he swum
On seeing the man, the whales struggles ceased
Tom swam up, and touched the mighty beast
One by one he cut the ropes strands
The whale turned on its side, to lend a hand
When the Cray fish pot was cut loose from the tail
Thinking it was free, off swam the whale
But after a hundred yards or so, it came to a stop
Allowing Tom to swim up, and remove the whole lot
Turning around, the whale looked Tom in the eye
Shook its head from side to side, as if to say thanks, and good bye
Then with a flip of its tail, it dived and was gone.

~Tango~

(According to the poet, this is a true story. It occurred on 11.06.01 off the east coast of New Zealand's South Island)

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