By Paul Buckley

In the depths of the darkest ocean, Floating like it is in outer space, waits a creature, that terrifies, as only it can. A creature whose size would make King Kong run for his mommy, And give Godzilla, the Monster king himself, a run for his money. Encased in the shape of an enormous pitch-black whale, It’s glowing red eyes of doom; only few have lived to tell the tale. It seems encased in an exoskeleton made of darkness, No other creature can bear a likeness. Sailors report that their cargo ships are destroyed by a column of water that makes a hole, For this comes from the creature’s blowhole. All the stories always end the same, With the survivor saying the monstrosity’s name…

 Poem by Paul Buckley  Music by John Rutter, “Requiem aeternam” from Requiem; Cambridge Singers 2010