Tilikum Black Fish

There were lots of young trainers
excited so clearly
to have a job training
the Orca’s
for they
were the black and white
mammals who grew to a great size
all highly intelligent
that’s what they say

all of those trainers
had almost no knowledge
of what made an Orca tick
all that they knew
was they wanted in
to the programme at Sea World
the crowds and the dynamics
it sort of drew

they wanted to step up
the relationship package
was high on their list
they could then interact
this was the real special
draw for those trainers
this in a nutshell
really was fact

things happened they always do
but overcome with the
show must go on, and excitement to be
part of of it all
it just kind of did it
for them they were going along
they could see

looking into their eyes
when you do it you feel it
there was something profound
looking straight back at you
a whole host of miracles
were then created
you really felt joyous
as did the whole crew

back in 1970 on Puget sound
the boats they were tracking
the pod and they found
a family were heading
somewhere’s all were free
and the Sea World Boats
hounded them
and frantically

they surfaced and one group
the females and youngsters
went off to the North
on a detour to try
and save them the males carried on
they were drawing them
but anyhow Sea World caught up with them
why?

they were after the babies
they wanted their babies
and so it was clear in the water that day
great stress was recorded
and they were rewarded
they captured the orca’s
but 3 had to pay

with their lives and they rallied
the pod came to be there
none of them left
though they could have, but they
have this innate love of their own
special species
and would sacrifice everything
even they’d pay

with their lives that’s love
of a special kind really
their brainpower remarkable
such a deep bond
with each other
that’s part of their brain
how they function
and really the human
showed that he had conned

them which they were up to
and they would remember
some of the trainers recalling
the scene
were noticeably moved
by the stressful occasion
many lost tears
it was something serene

there had been some accidents
that’s what they called them
but clearly great mammals
in concrete tanks do
suffer frustration
and so little elation
but suffer in silence
which just isn’t new

its was just that the corporation
wasn’t listening
if it was it was hiding
it hoped things would pass
but killings did occur
aggression was out there
the black fish was seething
inherently dangerous
all of them were

sheer boredom is evident
plucked from deep oceans
and sunk in a concrete tank
dead to the world
nothing alive in there
nothing resembling
where they had come from
and where they were hurled

this small sterile soup bowl
the stench of their bodies
no doubt they could fathom
no doubt they could feel
cramped up and frustrated
and feeling sedated
though cleverly able
to well just conceal

many mistakes have surfaced
for certain
arrogance took charge
and sales hit a high
all the peripheral and profitable
mascots
depended on shows going well
which was why

they covered up all sorts
of mishaps and murders
just called them accidents.
didn’t release
what the full truth was
and managed to ride it
it was about business
and keeping the peace

looking back over the years
we heard stories
different interpretations than before
nothing had been learned
from one to another
how those that died died
and really what for

initially it was the trainers
own fault
that way they got out of
so much duress
the show had to go on
it was the business
so what! if really there was
loads of stress

the black fish were clearly
upset with their life style
their cramped up conditions
the acts, and it all
these are intelligent truthfully sharing
into themselves knowing
who they can call

when a baby was taken away
from its mother
she cried like a banshee
for days as we know
it happens when mothers are split up from their
babies
they are beside themselves
it isn’t a show

its a gut crushing symphony
that they share with us
pitched to beyond
that cuts to the core
the great lamentation
the need to continue
to be with the youngster
for well evermore

more acts of aggression
perhaps a procession
all gently ironed over
and left in the air
Tilikums sperm being
used for the rest of them
his special formula
who was aware

Sea World and all these parks
these corporations
can’t see the anger
the futility
the pain and the suffering
the boredom created
non one was prepared
for the hostility

clearly its out there
the Orca’S THE WILD ONES
should never be holed up in tanks of this sort
to see a wild pod in the ocean is moving
it brings back those memories
clearly they caught

in the throats of those trainers
their eyes were all tearful
they choked as their spirit
recounted the pain
the darkness that bends light
and sucks up the feeling
clearly the time spent
in Sea World does drain

Tilikum clearly has mulled over much
as he waits and he ponders
and wonders why he
is still stuck in Florida
still such frustration
how he’s been exploited
all this he can see

and we all have to feel for his
time in this hell hole
we all have to realise
what he’s gone through
he needs his release
just sometime in the ocean
but he is a sperm bank
so what can we do

we can sign the petitions
and go on long missions
get stars to speak up for him
write every day
we can work to advise people
going to Sea world
that what they are doing
it isn’t a way

that these wonderful creatures
should never be treated
the deaths that occurred
were likely and they
perished in agony treated like
dolls
broken and left
in the light of the day

now what we learned is that black fish
and others
should never be trapped
they should stay in the sea
that’s where they were put
by the greatest creation
to maintain their freedom
through eternity