Cownose Ray, Rhinoptera Bonasus, by Sarah Gorham

Cownose Ray, photography by Henry Horenstein (USA) 1995-2001

Cownose Ray, Rhinoptera Bonasus
 
Who is this smiling creature, her wings spread wide, ready to embrace, her wide-set eyes focused on the camera, that is, the viewer, the photographer Henry Horenstein, me. One way we know she’s female is the vulva exposed at the bottom of her body, poised for easy penetration. Around her neck are tiny valves that open and close, that could be mistaken for a beaded necklace. She’s beautiful, ever so slippery, but Horenstein imagines her frozen, hanging in black waters, like a Stealth Bomber. Don’t be fooled: her jaws are hard as concrete, and if she’s hungry, she’ll pulverize any kind of seashell. As reserve weapons, her tail is lined with teeth and toxins, handy when approached by predators and kids and unlucky fishermen.

Remember the beach in Florida, the ocean calm, shallow for a hundred little steps, then a gradual drop. Little rolling ripples atop the water, mirrored like tiny hills in the sand below. Perfect for vacationing children, safe enough so that mother absorbs herself in a book and father sleeps. The ray’s back matches the colour of sand and the animal glides to the bottom and sequesters, feeding and digesting her food. If the children are romping and splashing around, one child may happen upon one, unseen by the grownups. It’s true, when you were young, your best friend let out a scream, ruby drops of blood sinking below the water’s surface, long red ragged streaks on your legs. Your father and mother came running, lifted you up by the arms then raced to the hospital. It took weeks for the wounds to heal, maybe a decade before you ventured into the water again. Horenstein’s vision is deliberately misleading, like all beauty, it blacks out the danger and, of course, the casualties.   
 
Sarah Gorham
 
Sarah Gorham is a poet and essayist, most recently the forthcoming essay collection Funeral Playlist from Etruscan Press. She is the author of Alpine Apprentice (2017), which made the short list for 2018 PEN/Diamonstein Award in the Essay, and Study in Perfect (2014), selected by Bernard Cooper for the 2013 AWP Award in Creative Nonfiction. Gorham is also the author of four poetry collections— Bad Daughter (2011), The Cure (2003), The Tension Zone (1996), and Don’t Go Back to Sleep (1989). Other honours include grants and fellowships from the NEA, three state arts councils, and the Kentucky Foundation for Women.