"The Other Perspective" by Eva Dominelli
6:29am, below sea level by Maurisa Li-A-Ping
counselor
I can’t clinically say, a whale has eaten my client. I am outside of the whale. I cannot reach her.
She has mentioned insomnia and restlessness during the night. I think this is when the whale got
her. This is the third consecutive session she’s missed.
sista frand
you know, Maurisa a real private person. i been her friend for like what, two years. she spend a lot
of time with herself. she call it healing or self-care, but i know better. to be honest, i don't think it
wasn’t no blue whale that done got Maurisa. it was a small whale, prolly the smallest one we know.
the…the dwarf whale, yeah, it wasn't no big ole monster that done got Maurisa. it was a small one
you could keep right in your pocket. Maurisa always carrying whales in her pocket. some days she
come to class drenched, like she couldn’t leave the ocean at the door, like she just finished
drowning, ain’t want no one to know she was dying so she resurrect herself, show up to class
anyhow, dripping everywhere honestly. i could see the poor desk deteriorating right in front my
eyes from all the salt eluding off her. but that’s Maurisa, ain’t want mess up her participation grade.
yeah, it…it…it wasn’t no big whale that done got our girl, it was a small one she ain’t even think
could hold all of her, but the whale done just opened up they mouth and then bam! Maurisa was
gone. i wonder if she know she got eaten by a whale or if she just say she healing, call this isolation
self-care?
little sister
i’m not too sure about when the whale ate my sister really. if we name this moment as my sister
getting eaten by a whale, she’s been in a whale for a while then. Murr went to college when I was
12 years old. she left home and went to live on campus. losing my sister at 12 years old felt like
she was eaten by a kind of whale. Murr was really busy. she was super involved in a lot of things
and wanted to make the fam proud and i get that. she got lots of awards. one time she went to
europe for 5 months to study abroad and saw the whole world. i guess living in a whale will take
you places huh. they say whales live deep in the ocean, i figure that’s why she went so far to the
next school. once she finish with the first degree she went to indiana for graduate school. i know
she aint doing well out there, aint no water in the indiana, how a whale ‘posed to survive. i know
her graduation is a few months away, i dont know if when they call her name the whale gone float
to the surface and spit my sis out or sink to the ocean floor and turn a hood into a casket.
lover
Maurisa and I have been dating for about a year. Maurisa has had a transformative impact on my
growth and development. I have seen her flourish into the scholar and educator she is today.
Maurisa is the light of my life. To know her is to love her. Maurisa is the ocean, her mouth both a
turtle and shark seeking to love someone fiercely. I have never told Maurisa I love her, similar to
that of an ocean she is her own border. She stills herself only for God. We talk every day and
occasionally, she’ll invite me over. One time, when the sun was rising and the street lights were
still on, she said she just wanted someone to lay with. She let me be the big spoon this time. I think
this is how Maurisa got into the whale. Because if she is indeed inside a dwarf sperm whale, it
didn’t eat her. Dwarf sperm whales are rarely often sighted at sea. They exist in slow, deliberate
movements with little splash. You do not just part the ocean and find a dwarf sperm whale, which
is to say, Maurisa steadied her heart rate, fractured herself vulnerable and walked into the belly of
the whale.
I can’t clinically say, a whale has eaten my client. I am outside of the whale. I cannot reach her.
She has mentioned insomnia and restlessness during the night. I think this is when the whale got
her. This is the third consecutive session she’s missed.
sista frand
you know, Maurisa a real private person. i been her friend for like what, two years. she spend a lot
of time with herself. she call it healing or self-care, but i know better. to be honest, i don't think it
wasn’t no blue whale that done got Maurisa. it was a small whale, prolly the smallest one we know.
the…the dwarf whale, yeah, it wasn't no big ole monster that done got Maurisa. it was a small one
you could keep right in your pocket. Maurisa always carrying whales in her pocket. some days she
come to class drenched, like she couldn’t leave the ocean at the door, like she just finished
drowning, ain’t want no one to know she was dying so she resurrect herself, show up to class
anyhow, dripping everywhere honestly. i could see the poor desk deteriorating right in front my
eyes from all the salt eluding off her. but that’s Maurisa, ain’t want mess up her participation grade.
yeah, it…it…it wasn’t no big whale that done got our girl, it was a small one she ain’t even think
could hold all of her, but the whale done just opened up they mouth and then bam! Maurisa was
gone. i wonder if she know she got eaten by a whale or if she just say she healing, call this isolation
self-care?
little sister
i’m not too sure about when the whale ate my sister really. if we name this moment as my sister
getting eaten by a whale, she’s been in a whale for a while then. Murr went to college when I was
12 years old. she left home and went to live on campus. losing my sister at 12 years old felt like
she was eaten by a kind of whale. Murr was really busy. she was super involved in a lot of things
and wanted to make the fam proud and i get that. she got lots of awards. one time she went to
europe for 5 months to study abroad and saw the whole world. i guess living in a whale will take
you places huh. they say whales live deep in the ocean, i figure that’s why she went so far to the
next school. once she finish with the first degree she went to indiana for graduate school. i know
she aint doing well out there, aint no water in the indiana, how a whale ‘posed to survive. i know
her graduation is a few months away, i dont know if when they call her name the whale gone float
to the surface and spit my sis out or sink to the ocean floor and turn a hood into a casket.
lover
Maurisa and I have been dating for about a year. Maurisa has had a transformative impact on my
growth and development. I have seen her flourish into the scholar and educator she is today.
Maurisa is the light of my life. To know her is to love her. Maurisa is the ocean, her mouth both a
turtle and shark seeking to love someone fiercely. I have never told Maurisa I love her, similar to
that of an ocean she is her own border. She stills herself only for God. We talk every day and
occasionally, she’ll invite me over. One time, when the sun was rising and the street lights were
still on, she said she just wanted someone to lay with. She let me be the big spoon this time. I think
this is how Maurisa got into the whale. Because if she is indeed inside a dwarf sperm whale, it
didn’t eat her. Dwarf sperm whales are rarely often sighted at sea. They exist in slow, deliberate
movements with little splash. You do not just part the ocean and find a dwarf sperm whale, which
is to say, Maurisa steadied her heart rate, fractured herself vulnerable and walked into the belly of
the whale.
Maurisa Li-A-Ping is a Black Queer storyteller, educator and performer raised by a village of Black women in Brooklyn, New York. Maurisa utilizes poetry to promote the success of marginalized students through Communal Poetry Environments. She has touched stages at the World-Famous Apollo Theater, United Nations, Poetic License Festival, Barclays Center and more. Her commitment as a storyteller and educator has allowed her to present and perform at NASPA’s 100th Annual Conference, the ACPA Convention, the Herman C. Hudson Symposium, The National Conference on Student Leadership, and various other venues. Maurisa's dedication to her craft has led her to receive national honors from The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, their Alumni Microgrant and publication with Lunch Ticket, The National Institute for Transformative Equity, Wusgood Mag and more.
Eva Dominelli is a Vancouver artist and freelance Illustrator with a BFA in Illustration from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Her mysterious gouache and ink illustrations playfully investigate the relationship between the private and the public experience of the everyday. She is currently working on her upcoming artist’s book Between Being & Nothingness.
You can view more of her work at evadominelli.com, on facebook @evadominelliillustration or on instagram @eva.avenue.
You can view more of her work at evadominelli.com, on facebook @evadominelliillustration or on instagram @eva.avenue.
