Susan Ashley | + Follow Poet |
Free verse | + Fav Poem | Comment | Email | Print |

Notes About The Poem

April 13, 2025

~ Sixth Place ~
Premiere Contest: The Cold Embrace Of Death
Sponsor: Sara Jama

---

 

Sirens

Sugar-sighing seas swell and stir
my seaman's obsession with blonde pleasures
but treachery’s buried in treasures feminine gold
a flute  a lyre  voices honey dipped in gilded danger
temptation burns Hades flames on sunset waters
sea-devils  those  she-devils  salty-tear-sweet

ooh songstress sisters  please  just a taste
a kiss on lips that set fire to desires with your song
my sailor’s appetite hungers for heaven
whet by curves wet and flowing with fanned betta fins
ship's mainmast in full sail  filled with chanting gales

to get there  find you  possess you  surrender to you
lessons of unholy lore lost to forbidden allure
tidal surge drives male urge upon damsel-damned rocks
scree with greed will drown my sinking screams
cursed corpses litter seabed in breath-less murk

oh songstress trio  so fluid  so corrupt
flute a primal plea  lyre a trembling snare  soprano
hymns  those wind-songs committing mortal sins
fallen angels’ sea-mist-sigh a lyric doom to die
black waves undulate with serpentine virgins

weavers of wind and wave and spindrift spite
this sailor’s fate awaits escape in vain 
my bane their sunlight tresses turned a seaweed tangle 
in temptress threads I'm wrapped before I’m dead—
cold embrace of death in shallows a mariner’s gallows

gull a laughing witness fades in clouds
knows my seaman’s crossed bones will brine
opiate of the sea  my soul’s shipwreck their ecstasy
my pulse  my blood drunk with lust   a poor warrior
against sirens’ maelstrom into the underworld

Please Login to post a comment

Paul Bell Date: 7/2/2025 2:09:00 PM Ah, many a sailor has been tempted by a temptress, and no doubt more will follow. I suppose there's worse ways to go. Titanic being one of them. Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 7/4/2025 8:48:00 AM Dear Paul, your wonderful visit and comments are truly appreciated. Thank you for sharing in the futility of fighting the fated lure of lust as the sailor falls for the siren once again. Warmest wishes, my poet friend.. ~Susan

Mystic Rose Rose Date: 4/18/2025 2:32:00 PM so many have perished under sea this way, beautifully described, you put your heart into this it shows, congrats on your win dear Susan Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 4/19/2025 7:50:00 AM Dear Rose, I relish your wonderful visit and lovely thoughts about my poem. Thank you for sharing in this siren and sailor piece with me. Your kind congrats are truly appreciated as well. Warmest wishes my poet friend.. ~Susan

Lin Lane Date: 4/18/2025 10:17:00 AM Dear Susan, your telling of the Siren's tale, the 'songstress sisters,' is ages old of their luring voices. Mythology blames them for the deaths of many sailors by death's cold embrace. Congratulations for your finely crafted lines being chosen for the winning list. Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 4/19/2025 7:56:00 AM Dear Lin, indeed the siren and sailor lore is as old as sailing the high seas. Sara's theme "the cold embrace of death" lured my imagination to the envelopment of the dark sea. Thank you for your visit and insights. They are appreciated as are your kind congrats. Warmest wishes, my poet friend.. ~Susan

Nette Onclaud Date: 4/18/2025 1:50:00 AM ohhh, i haven't done a ditty on sirens in a long while, but your brilliant write is now inspiring me to pen one....sweet congrats on your huge win, susan Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 4/18/2025 8:10:00 AM Dear Nette, it's wonderful to see you! Thank you for sharing in the sirens' song with me. Your beautiful comments and kind congrats are embraced with appreciation. Warmest wishes, sweet poetess.. ~Susan

Sara Jama Date: 4/16/2025 6:30:00 AM Congratulations on placing in my contest. I have always been fascinated by the lore of sirens. I love the descriptions in your write. From "a kiss on lips setting fire to desires with song," to fallen angels’ sea-mist-sigh a lyric doom to die," your sinister imagery of a watery grave is gorgeous. Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 4/18/2025 7:56:00 AM Dear Sara, thank you for the honor of my poem's placement in your esteemed contest. It was such a pleasure to write for your contest prompt. This is another poem that wouldn't have been written if not for your dark, stirring theme. The spirit of your beautiful comments and kind congrats lifts and inspires my heart. You are truly appreciated, my creative poet friend. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

I Am Anaya Date: 4/15/2025 11:18:00 AM O Susan, chilling waters and its depth have swept me off my feet! The hallucination of the siren song surely has left the sailors drowning in their illusive wake. Such a maritime marvel, congratulations to you on your placement in Sara's contest! ~ The grogs on me! Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 4/18/2025 8:20:00 AM Dear Anaya, it's always wonderful when you appear on my poem's page! Sirens make the sailors swoon for sure lol.. I'm so glad to know that my poem swept you off your feet to a place where we can lift our cups of grog in cheer! :) Your beautiful comments and your poet friendship is ever appreciated. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Ink Empress Date: 4/14/2025 11:56:00 AM Dear talented soul, Susan, I love your use of mythology in your poem and how youv played around with words, using poetic techniques such as assonance, alliterations and descriptive diction, and the theme that youv gone for is truly impressive and one that is in sync with my soul! I especially love the lines "oh songstress trio so fluid so corrupt flute a primal plea lyre a trembling snare hymns those wind-songs committing mortal sins" how soulfully moving! Deep! Pleasure reading you! Congratulations on your placement in saras contest! Sending you light always Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 4/18/2025 8:04:00 AM Dear Ink, expressive and impressive poet, your golden presence adds a golden glow to my poem that it would not otherwise have. Thank you for your beautiful comments and heartwarming congrats. I'm thrilled to know that my verses were "in sync with your soul". That's deep and gratifying, my soulful poet friend. You are ever appreciated. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Andrea Dietrich Date: 4/13/2025 10:14:00 PM Wow you got really inspired to go with sirens. I wish I would have thought of something so cool. My entry pales in comparison Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 4/18/2025 7:58:00 AM Dear Andrea, indeed, I was swooning over sirens lol! Thank you for your encouraging comments. Your visit is truly appreciated. I have no doubt that your entry was wonderful :) Warmest wishes, my poet friend.. ~Susan

Silent One Date: 4/13/2025 12:01:00 PM My dear friend, This reads like an allegory for obsession and the futility of resisting destructive desire. The sea-women (sirens? muses? lovers?) are both object and subject of power—worshiped and feared. The sailor knows he’s doomed, but sails toward them anyway. It's a meditation on surrender. Your use of enjambment and fractured syntax creates a breathless, almost gasping rhythm that mirrors the sailor’s descent—both into temptation and the sea. So excellently written.. Login to Reply Susan Ashley Date: 4/13/2025 9:40:00 PM My dear friend, it’s always wonderful when your poetic presence graces my poem. Thank you for sharing in the imagery, emotion and futility of fighting the fated lure of lust when surrendering to it, if only to meet your doom, is so overpowering. You see into the heart of my poem with the ease. You have a true poet’s soul and you are ever an inspiration to me. So glad you enjoyed this poem, my dear friend, Silent One. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan