moonlight falls
silent on snow
frozen towering wild turns its face to ancient sea
the ocean, brooding, darkly gazes back
waves crash on rock
ink upon the shore
beneath the endless starry surface
a world of light and wonder
fall and float among the luminescence
down
down
the kingdom of giants wide awake
among deep time and eons
majestic sirens of the fathoms
call to their kin across the stars
Titan, Ceres, Europa, Earth
sisters, cetaceans, sing
Antarctic abyss keeps its secrets
hidden since creation
epoch after epoch
as it was in the beginning
is now
and ever shall be... until
we meet amongst the midnight
in distant days ahead
The harp of the ocean ruptures the skin,
blood mingling but sharks do not attack.
Letting sea salt heal all that is within,
finally you are clean feeling blue-black.
Bioluminescence hits with a smack,
dabs of glitter sparkle coating your hair.
With an image harnessing debonair,
a rhythm dances with the rising tide.
Unable to turn from it’s feisty flare,
wild desire to submerge will not subside.
I was so small, looking up at you as I gripped your
hand tight.
My eyes like deep sea bioluminescence, yours like a
nebula.
Dead and anew.
You were starlight, the sun. Close enough to warm me,
but impossible to hold. To soothe.
The world was not meant for us
And yet, here we are.
Mismatched, misshapen, misbehaved.
We peer through the cracks and cut our fingers on the
edges.
And you, you said you would die young
Snuffed out so fast, in a moment of darkness.
I guess you got what you wanted, then.
I guess you wanted to leave this all behind.
Instead, you left me
Stuck with your spirit bursting in my chest.
I am engulfed in this absence, filled with seawater.
Head pounding to the beat of your heartache.
And the tree that watches over you
Stretches to see the sun.
And the dirt blankets you the way your mother
never could.
And I hope you found your place in the vast.
But, god, didn’t you ever look up?
Who could ever bear to leave this world?
(“Feed Your Head Merit Badge”, 2011, original oil
"Conceived in Light", 2017, original encaustic)
Under the harvest Luna
Big and bright and silver
With the hunger
Of all humanity
We stuff and stuff
On magic spores
Until we’ve had enough
To remain in light
And when our belly’s burst
We split our sides
Released in time’s collapse
And wash upon the shore
Wave by wave
Of primal particles
Spread out in films
Of bioluminescence
Dancing in the night
Until the golden
Dawning Sol
Revives us
With His sight
(1/18/26)
I stopped embracing land—
let cross seas crash upon my
suffering, instabilities—
somehow, in deranged undertow,
in suffocating currents,
benthic pressures…
I remembered my own strength
does not appear where it is
safe—lit like bioluminescence
inside disillusion,
unsure—salt-soaked mess.
I laugh—because I thought
land held answers—
but all it gave me was
stagnancy, unrest.
9.12.25
amidst midnight zone
bioluminescence lights
indigo black seas
Lost at sea yet the lighthouse blinds me,
crash into a cliff and a siren’s beckoning,
breast beat slowing as gravity crushes me in twilight.
As my specter bubbles to the surface,
I come by an ancient creature,
bioluminescence and teeth jagged.
He seems friendly.
Who am I to judge.
May you live every single dream
By Michelle Morris
29/02/2024
Let the sun stream light on your face
Let the breeze gently touch your form
Let the warmth and harmony these bring
Feel like Heaven's loving warmth
Let the moon bring you her magic
The glow of the stars inspire your soul
I hope that you'll always remember
You're perfect and you're whole
Let the fireflies light a path
To the wisdom beyond the trees
Let the plankton's bioluminescence feel
Like the ocean's magic is free
Let the skies show you endless miracles
There in our Universe so bold
May you live every single dream
And create a life filled with memories to hold
© Michelle Morris, 2024
| Butterfly |
Bioluminescence skies
Blissful seeking the seas
Beating wind beneath wings
Breathless view one can see
Blue skies Atala soars
Blackest wings glide towards
Birthing into the night
winged ballerina
delicate arthropod flight
orange wings has eyes
flight signals low height
bioluminescence bright
nature fly lights night
feather wings rapid
aeronautical mini
hovering fowl fuels
bird pure white
state of eloquence defined
beautifies pond
fowl soars then dive
pink on white emblems seen
long neck bird catch fish
I often think about Earth's oceans- deep
and taking up three-quarters of its size.
Our continents are islands in the sweep
of water worlds- alive beneath our skies.
Great depths of liquid mystery are they;
home of the largest sea life we have seen,
like whales- or giant squid that hide- away
in deep, dark voids below the surface scene.
Some life within our oceans do defy
the rules of nature that apply on land;
all shapes and sizes- lights that glorify
with bioluminescence- colors grand.
So many unsolved secrets lie within
the darkest depths of this aquatic realm.
Like cosmic space- our oceans are akin
in holding mysteries that overwhelm.
A universe its own, our oceans share
enigmas of strange life formed long ago.
Of many species, surely we're aware;
yet, others far from view, dwell deep below.
September 23, 2021
~1st Place~
Contest: "O" Contest, New Poems
Sponsor: Constance La France
Judged: 09/24/2021
That magical moment each summer
when the first fireflies appeared,
blinking me, winking me out of the house.
Jar in hand,
stealthily advancing,
trapping one and then another.
Illuminated glass glows,
a mystic lantern,
a tragic prison.
By morning’s light,
their bioluminescence extinguished,
tiny bodies lie in repose.
Now, years later,
I blame my unfortunate luck in love
on my errant firefly actions.
Surely I am being punished
for lacking an all-creatures-great-and-small
respect for Mother Nature.
Atonement will come only
if I instruct my own children
in the art of catch and release.
But I simply can’t rob them
of the childhood ritual
of lightning bug delight
in a jar.
On a dark dense night
Ah a rare nature-lit light,
What a ghost-like sight!
___________________________
Here is nature lighting its own light, a rare happening locally called chir batti, a long-burning lamp or ghost light. It happens in this desert due to a phenomenon called bioluminescence.
Reminiscences |20.01.2021|
Topic: desert, soul
Poet’s note: Planned to visit the Rann of Kutchh in the north-west part of Gujarat, and got myself familiar with all its attractions, places to visit. But the visit had to be cancelled. Yet, the poet in me took off still. Here are the reminiscences, The Lure of Desert I to VI.
firefly flight
bioluminescence bright
a seasonal light
firefly
bioluminescence bright
a seasonal light
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