Jonah Speaks Again: poem by Rachel Ann Russell

image by Somchai Sumnow, on Pixabay, slightly modified

Jonah Speaks Again

I didn’t get a lot out of the experience.

Except this:

that moment when the whale spit me out, cold air slamming

into my wet, hot body, then the land slamming into me, sand

sticking to the slime on my clothes, to my wet skin, gritty against my face

in my eyes, in my nose.

Then the rush of ocean foam, like a caress, flowing gently around me

as I lay there just trying to breathe. Just in with the breathing, then out, and the foam

full of bubbles, the sand like tiny beautiful jewels

the gulls crying high in the sky and the smell of fish everywhere,

and me just breathing, just breathing.

_____________________

Rachel Ann Russell has been published over the years in several places, most recently

Amethyst Magazine and Maryland Literary Review, with an upcoming poem in Christian Courier. She has taken several classes at The Writer's Center, in Maryland, and recently graduated with a Master of Arts from Wesley Theological Seminary. And she reads a lot

of books!

(August 2026 issue)