Nantucket West, by Sterling Warner

Whale Destroying Whaling Ship, by American School (USA) c. 1875

Nantucket West

By the time I finished reading Moby Dick, I’d think about whales 24/7: harpooning leviathans, slicing them into pieces, and melting down the blubber. Thank god Cindy convinced me to chill and take her to the Bloedel Floral Conservatory in Vancouver, British Columbia. Under the triodetic dome, my life changed for the better as I immersed myself in jungle plants and listened to exotic birds singing and scolding onlookers.

That night, we celebrated Cindy’s 22nd birthday at the Gotham Steakhouse. All signs pointed to a romantic conclusion to the perfect day. Oddly, when her rare prime rib dinner arrived, Cindy methodically carved ample fat at both ends of the 24-ounce cut. Next, she began to feast on the warm, juicy marble.

Hey! I was cool. I acted amused. I watched her roll her eyes and savor her favorite meat. Then she forked a white hunk of fat in my direction and ordered, “Open wide!” Obligingly, I chewed on the tasty suet.  However, after only ten seconds, Ahab beckoned. Next, I began to hear salt water waves lap against the Pequod’s hull, smell pungent whale blubber boiling in try-pots, and envision buckets of spermaceti being decanted in casks. Unwittingly, Cindy, sent me back aboard with Melville.

Sterling Warner

A Washington- based author, poet, educator, and Push Cart Nominee, Sterling Warner’s works have appeared in such literary magazines, journals, and anthologies as the Atherton Review, Street Lit, the Shot Glass Journal and Metamorphoses.  Warner’s volumes of poetry include Rags and Feathers, Without Wheels, ShadowCat, Edges, Memento Mori, and Serpent’s Tooth: Poems. His first collection of fiction, Masques: Flash Fiction & Short Stories, debuted in August 2020. ​