the little monk

from The Brothers Karamazov

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“This is what I think of you, you will go forth from these walls, but you will live like a monk in the world. You will have many enemies, but even your foes will love you. Life will bring you many misfortunes, but you will find your happiness in them, and will bless life and will make others bless it - which is what matters most. Well, that is your character.”

the little monk

here is a poem the little monk wrote for 52 Blue, a whale that roams the North Pacific Ocean without a family or a friend

whale

song

lonely

where are you?

wandering, singing

singing unheard wandering songs

can you hear me? are you there? are you? i am alone

listening, longing for songs gently sung, i hear you, song on water, i’m here, i’m here

we sing at diff’rent frequencies, migrate along diff’rent routes, wandering, wondering

unheard, unknown, wandering the sea, songs on water

singing unheard wondering songs

wondering, singing

who are you?

gentle

song

whale

the little monk understands you hold opposites together in ways that turn parts into wholes

the little monk knows the crystals that form a snowflake are sensitive to initial conditions, so sensitive that a wind blowing over the ice, a cloud passing between the sun and the earth, or the vibrations from the heartbeat of a bowhead whale can change the snowflake into something different and new

— Trevor Scott Barton, “the little monk,” 2020