What goes on in the hearts of dolphins?

I heard tale of a dolphin who carried her dead calf for 17 days

Not able to let go

Or perhaps even to admit it to be true

That her child was not alive

Maybe she hoped she had got it wrong

That her child was sleeping soundly 

Before finally arousing from an improbably long dream

I cannot fathom the courage it took 

For her to finally let go

To accept the fate of her blessed child

Did she watch as its lifeless form sunk to the depths of its watery grave

Or did she swim away without looking down

As she finally released the weight of her child from her embrace

Did she let out a bone chilling scream

That rang out in mournful call across the seas

Or was she quiet as her heart ripped apart inside her ample, swollen body

We will never know what goes on in the brains and hearts of dolphins

We will never know what she still carries with her or if she remembers the feeling of her silent child on her back. 

Perhaps these are simply projections from a mother who loves her children with such intensity that she cannot conceive of another life form skipping over the magnitude of a child lost.