whalesong
anna winham
colour just wasn’t salient.
in the wine-dark sea,
octopuses are the real chameleons.
rainbows ripple
across their skin in
a mirage of camouflage
or a wild din of clashing colour chords. they only have one kind of photoreceptor;
it takes at least two to see as we do.
researchers conclude they are colourblind,
speakers of a skin language they can’t listen to.
i don’t buy it.
we have recently decoded whalesong –
why are we so surprised by dolphin dialects?
or a parrot’s demonstrated knack for discussing abstract concepts?
having found the buzz of bees
to be dripping with meaning,
it seems more revealing of us that,
finding the octopus not to be dumb,
we proclaim her deaf.