It’s Poetics Tuesday over at the dVerse Poets Pub. This time our host is Laura Bloomsbury who has tasked us with this:
Write your poem as a rhyming tercet of 3 line stanzas though a composite 9 liner or more would do just as well
– Strict meter is not a requirement but for an extra challenge try pentameter (10 syllables to each line)
– You do NOT have to follow the ordered sequence of the above
– You may reverse the order of the 1st & 3rd words but otherwise keep the integrity of each rhyme set
- SPEECH/REST/BEACH
- ON/SEA/UPON
- WORD/BREATH/BIRD
- WAY/SOUND/BAY
- SUNG/LIPS/TONGUE
After the mermaid’s sweet song was sung
with a pretty pout upon her lips
she tickled his tonsils with her tongue.
Shocked and aghast; at a loss for speech
the sailor gasped “Let’s give it a rest!”
They watched as the sun set on the beach —
twilight turned to dark. Without a word
she slid away; and he held his breath
she slipped into the sea. An odd bird
indeed, he thought, as the night drew on.
But his sad gaze was fixed on the sea
She’d left him with much to muse upon.
Those damned Silkies are like that. Then again, perhaps her leaving him was an act of charity, for surely his gills didn’t work well enough to follow her.
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I agree with Glenn that her leaving him was an act of charity. He was still alive 😉 Those near death experiences can certainly be haunting…
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I like your description of that evening meeting with the mermaid and all the alliteration in this line: “she tickled his tonsils with her tongue.”
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Thank you, Frank!
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You took an undine and gave her life in this poem much to the sailor’s surprise – great use of the rhyme sets – thank for joining the prompt
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Thanks so much, Laura. I appreciate your comments!
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A tale of missed opportunity! Well done.
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Thanks so much. 🙂
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Well done! This one made me smile! I can’t imagine a sailor telling her to slow down!! LOL
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Thank you. I’m sure he is still kicking himself. 🙂
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I guess you could say the scales were not tipped in his favor! :>)
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LOL!
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The mystical has its own aura, and also fear.
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A story that gives shivers, but still he is wainting upon!
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Thank you, Vandana
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Ah, you can’t trust a mermaid to stay, or to keep you safe. i wonder if he’ll ever quite recover from that encounter.
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I doubt it. I certainly wouldn’t! Thanks for reading & commenting, Sarah!
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Garlick’s words do lead us into the realm of mermaids and other sea creatures, and I enjoyed your poem, Susan. I’ve just finished reading a book set in Victorian London called Things in Jars, about a beautiful mermaid with sharp teeth and, apparently, murderous tendencies. I love the contrast between the sweet song and pretty pout and the ominously alliterative ‘she tickled his tonsils with her tongue’. I’m not surprised the sailor was left with ‘much to muse upon’.
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Thank you, Kim. I’ve heard of “Things in Jars.” Going to have to read it now!
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It’s good!
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Oh she tickled his tonsils with her tongue
and they collaborated on a song of the sea
For some reason that tickled tonsil phrase makes me want to write a poem about it! I was totally entertained!
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Glad to hear, Beverly! 🙂
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I love this!
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Thank you! 🙂
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I wonder if anything is ever normal again after having met with a mermaid.
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I don’t see how it could be. To me it would be a life-changing event that no one would believe.
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Wow this is good. I can barely understand the instructions. Maybe someday I will be brave enough to try.
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