TWICE I WALKED WITH DINOSAURS
by Camryn Diagonale
Context: Camryn Diagonale is originally from North Carolina and currently attends school in D.C. She began writing poetry in high school, and her work tends to focus on experiences from her childhood and the wonderful cruxes of youth. In this poem, a speaker describes encounters with a shark and an alligator. As you read, take notes on how the speaker reacts to the animals she encounters in the poem.
One summer we found
a dead baby shark
washed up on the beach,
cut it open with a dinner knife
from the house,
and performed an
outdoor autopsy.
As we marveled at its
miniature anatomy,
reveled in the smallness
of each little organ,
seagulls circled overhead.
The ocean was quiet,
barely making waves.
It kept vigil for its tiny causality.
The spring prior,
an alligator wandered
onto the beach during my
uncleâs second wedding.
It was far enough away
to merit an absence of fear, but
nobody took photos or said
a wordâ we just stared
as it settled itself in the surf,
hoping to be cleansed.
Why did the speaker cut open the shark?