‘Right Up to the End’

The recent reports of the Japanese being unwilling to fish for tuna in a dolphin-safe manner, plus their persistence in continuing to hunt whales while most other nations are willing to quit, leads one to think that, when the Japanese have finally killed the last two remaining whales in the ocean, they will go home, paint a delicate picture and write a gentle haiku:

We will miss the whale

He was a very good friend

Right up to the end.

And then they will convert their whaling vessels to magnificent and gigantic gill-net fisheries.

And when they have caught the last tuna and killed the last dolphin, they will go home and paint a delicate picture and write a gentle haiku:

We will miss the fish

They were such very good friends

Right up to the end.

Because, after all, the Japanese are people of great sensitivity and creativity, and it is only right and fitting that they honor such noble creatures.

And then they will convert their gill-net fishing vessels to . . .

E.J. BECHTEL

Newport Beach