manatee herd
sailors charmed by their whistling
myth of mermaids
Categories:
manatee, appreciation, myth, sound,
Form: Senryu
We went to Manatee Lagoon
But it was not quite opportune
For if there was a manatee,
It wasn’t there for us to see.
To make the best of getting there,
An hour’s drive to who-knows-where,
We took some pictures (smile, please!)
Beside some sculptured manatees.
So looking back, those photos will
Remind me that we can fulfill
Some journeys that we undertake
With memories and proof that’s fake.
Categories:
manatee, animal,
Form: Rhyme
Gaia’s womb the ocean,
births her children with aqua love.
Mammalian heartbeats intermingle with
The sound of the tides;
harmonic echoes are recorded in
every abandoned shell.
The wisdom of those who traverse
this entire world amid the waterways…
immense and timeless; borne of eternal-mind;
the consciousness of the universe resides in every soul.
A spiritual connection deeper than life
each grain of sand holds the magic
drawn from the cosmos.
I reach to touch a conch, Lifting it my ear;
listening to the wisdom it provides
in the language of surf.
I hear the voice of a dolphin,
“We are one and the same”.
The spirit of the Manatee asks,
“Come swim with me.”
Wading into the surf, I feel the cool
of ocean embrace and dive in;
a rubbery touch of manta says
“Hello, let’s race.”
I find myself among friends.
Categories:
manatee, animal, nature, ocean, poems,
Form: Free verse
Machiavellian schemes besmirch a murky mangrove calm
A propeller breaks the tranquil glass over an underwater farm
Neath the broken still, a peaceful giant stirs with alarm
and no consolation is found as noise churns it's quiet charm
The serene spots need to be augmented for they are our balm
Ecosystems need protection from greedy developers’ harm
Empyrean Earth for all, is in our active palms, giving alms…
(5/12/21: Custom ketch; KKMI Richmond)
Categories:
manatee, angst,
Form: Monorhyme
An “Angel of the Odd” curiosity provokes
The Angel of Death is more welcome than he
Wine bottles in a keg? What is it this angel smokes?
“The narrator’s house,” says Poe with wicked glee
Things are never as they seem in Poe’s fantasy
Much as in life, we trade one monster for the next
And for unlucky blokes, there’s no amnesty
So listen for Poe’s laugh when you feel vexed
Oddities abound in a world with no rules
Poe has no patience for “sensible” solutions
An angel he creates to make men seem fools
Perhaps you’re next in line for this angel’s executions
Who would be so brazen as to poke fun at Poe?
Even as Poe toys with your sanity
You may find yourself fleeing the Kraken in a hoe
Only to be swallowed by a fierce manatee
*Written February 15, 2014 for Craig Cornish’s “Angel of the Odd” contest
Categories:
manatee, humorous,
Form: Rhyme
manatee 'neath bridge
endangered species rebounds --
sighting evokes joy
*Entry for Carol Brown's Nature Haiku contest
Categories:
manatee, animals
Form: Haiku
In southern waters
as an endangered species
the manatee swims
Categories:
manatee, animals
Form: Haiku
Goodbye .....
she whispered from afar
The wind took words away
and scattered them
along the beach
where lovers used to play
I chased the syllables and nouns
I gathered up the thoughts
but currents in the water found
the letters I had caught
I still can't understand or hear
the bubbles that she blew,
landing lightly on the waves
a surface love so new.
I sank beneath the waters
a deeper love to find,
the heavy words like loyalty
and truth were on my line,
but I found only adverbs
Of when and why and how
I left my love note at the shore ,
who needs an old sea cow?
Categories:
manatee, funny, on writing and
Form: Couplet