Best Sealife Poems
Corals
erubescent, effervescent
proliferating, enticing, embellishing
Acropora, Montipora, Isanthus, Actinia
tickling, electrifying, jolting
grotesque, virulent
Anemones
19 August 2022
Dazzling Dizzy Diamante Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Caren Krutsinger
1st place
ABOVE AND BELOW THE SURFACE
Our life unfolds in the sunfilled air where we are kings
But leave this kingdom at your peril,
For below the surface are watery things.
In our royal air, raindrops fall down. In the upside-down liquid world - confusion:
Air bubbles in water fall up - the ocean’s own airdrops.
Two visitor spheres, each hurrying home, for life through the surface is an illusion.
A distorted image of illusory shimmering through eyes with lenses blurred,
The Pearl of the World is a cauterized oyster-infection.
Divers plunge below, uncertain of reality: no sound senses - no word is heard.
Above, our mastery of life in royal air is an illusion - of power.
Below we must move from a king’s realm to a serf’s realm.
We must move down the scale from predator to prey - and cower.
Once below, we must mark the ways of beings which outwit our checks.
Turtles and whales talk easily over our mute submarine tele-cables
Sprawled snake-like among the dark silent hulls, useless wrecks -
Those temporary temples to the royal air-gods of technologism,
In an unforgiving world where water-power demands fealty:
Flotability is a permanent state of hydro-atheism.
Airless sunless life, groping gradually to the glassy surface, shaken
Or even known, only by instinct, but never breached:
‘Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.’ *
………………………………………………………….
*From Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116
Mountain born mountain bred,
Such this life she's led.
'Cross twin peaks her breeze does hide,
In mountain cave does she abide.
Songs so sung of melody,
Fraught with boundless perfidy.
Sweeter than bright birds aloft,
Her song a'tune so secret soft.
Wanders she midst moonlit trees,
None to know that which she sees.
Hers those thoughts so well a'tune,
Down from mountain she'll be soon.
To our midst within our heart,
Thus our days fresh of start.
Mountain born mountain bred,
So to share this life she's led.
SeaWolf
©
Torrid seas cast the pirate ship like a toy
As the captain held the mizenmast strong
Men worked hard to bring calm to the vessel
With prayers to their rum that it wouldn’t last long
While one lone pirate with hopes for the bounty
Had eyes on the chest and his hands on the sail
If the ship were to suffer weathered defeat, he thought
That he’d get the prize, that he would prevail
At that moment, a crack of lightning it suffered
The crows nest came down very hard and so fast
Six men had been taken out in one fallen move
As he now then is suffering with pain that will last
For a line then severed, his two legs from under
As he lay there screaming to God from the stern
He just wanted riches and somewhere to spend it
But now there is nothing except then this burn
As his eyes then closed, he thought to himself
His life wasn’t great, but all it could be
He then started humming as words faded fast
“Yes, oh yes, it’s a pirate’s life for me…”
walking is defined by how one travels on one's feet
walking in itself can be an easy task to complete
but when the environments troubles the ground on which you trod
walking is no longer easy but can become quite hard
walking on troubles waters Jesus went out to meet the boat
the Disciples were so fearful that they thought they were seeing a ghost
the storm had arisen and the boat was in big trouble
but Jesus was now in place to take on their struggle
the storms of circumstances will roil the waters of your life
the hurricanes of financial and economic strife
the tornadoes of your personal life and job situations
the tsunamis and the monsoons of everyday complications
we all have a desire to sail down calm and quiet streams
but life has a way of going from one to another extreme
storms will come into your life at times when you least expect
but as long as you're with Jesus there's no need to panic and eject
walking on troubles waters is not an easy thing to do
but it's less of a problem if you trust in God to guide you
so stretch out your hands to Him when you do step out of the boat
and believe that the Lord Jesus the Christ will keep you afloat
just don't look down and walk without any doubt
and know in your heart that God will work it all out
when the waters are flowing and easy you can walk on an even keel
but when the worries and woes make waves it's time to let God take the wheel
when walking on troubles water you need to have a big faith
and trust that the Lord Our God won't let you fall on your face
walking on troubled waters during the storms of life
knowing that the calm will come if you just trust in the power that is Christ
She lived her lifetime by the sea,
her life was one of symmetry,
the rhythm of the waves, in part,
matched the beating of her heart.
At every dawn she walked the shore
and wondered what she was looking for,
it troubled her that she left no trace
as she watched her foot prints be erased.
The ocean just went on and on
ever singing the same sad song,
at night the sky was filled with stars
the darkness intensified her scars.
She tried and tried to paint the sea,
an exercise in futility,
the watercolors and oil paints
restricted her with their restraints.
Photography, too, left her cold,
nothing captured the ocean's hold,
ever changing, never still,
sometime's the motion made her ill.
As she grew old and stayed abed,
the relentless drone played with her head,
the sound no longer gave her peace,
it maddened her, would never cease.
The seagulls that she used to love,
now seemed to mock her from above,
their calls sounded like dreadful laughter
echoing through the wooden rafters.
The ocean now just made her sad,
the pounding waves soon drove her mad,
she closed the shutters, barred the doors,
her morning walks she took no more.
And on a day of pouring rain,
they found her pitiful remains,
she lived a life of obscurity
and died a death of apathy.
Those sent to empty out her house,
(she had no family, had no spouse)
found a treasure trove of works of art,
canvasses painted from her heart.
The art world was astonished by her talent,
to capture the ocean's movement and balance,
in life she looked at her art with shame,
in death her art brought fortune and fame.
Our harshest critics undermine
the talent that we should let shine,
and you know, as well as I,
wherein our harshest critics lie.
There are thing’s in this life
We will never understand
Take the Ocean for example
We watch the waves roll in
And the waves roll out
The never-ending heartbeat
---- Of Mother Earth ----
Most of us have no concept
Of what lies with-in
The vast space between her shores
The Ocean holds a certain
Romance
That intrigues us all
For the Ocean is a giver
And a taker
Of life
She may allow us to sail across her
Explore inside of her
Study the life
That lives with-in her
Film the majestic wonders
Of her depths
But with all our technology
The amazing ships we build
To enjoy her
We will never be able to tame her
---- For unlike us she is truly free ----
Inspired by laura's contest.
They hit shores like never before
Wonder what they were thinking about
To feel so sore
Why were they so rough
Was it time to toughen up
Sand and pebbles on my feet
With grumpy waves beneath my feet
What’s the matter with you
Are you being pretentious
Or something you feel so deep
Lighten up my friend
You are so sweet
From the depths, where lies descended topography,
Come surges, the power that gives life to the sea
It’s vast green and inviting blue, speak in utterance, in waves
The beauty held within the sight of the sea
Is the very part that holds the danger
The life that exists for the water can be the death for many
Yet, despite that sadness, it remains the world’s beauty
The fluid momentum of power and grace
It is a body of curves, of motion and of style
It is the sea… and it calls out to us all
The craggy rock beach
Was behind us
Sheltering from the stormy wind
Only good was in front
Offering peace from within
There was the huge sun setting
Beautiful colors starting to display
Flame red, dark violet, and cobalt today
Now we are together
Our love can truly begin
There will be many more
Romantic setting
Even though my life
Is close to the end
If only I could have known you
Earlier in my life
I would have been eternally
Greatful, to have been your wife
The life we could have shared together
Would have been worth
Any sacrifice
But sometimes things are impossible
We have to accept what comes our way
But thank God in heaven this now is our day