The ocean is a brimming bountiful beauty,
of whales, porpoises, dolphins, seahorses,
fish, seabirds, plankton, algae,
sparkling brine of emerald and blue.
Her dead are entombed in her eternal body,
she rises in the merciless storms,
with waves that toss many craft.
Yet, she also lies smoothly as a
sleeping kitten,
mariner's timeless sea chanties in the
winds.
She is envious of the sailor's love
for mermaids,
as she calls them from ports with
her lure.
She's undiscovered in
some ways,
oceanographers still learning.
She must not be overharvested,
she needs to replenish her strength.
Always wondrous and courted
by the mystique of the moon,
warm and bright in the tropical sun,
colder in the North's barren heart.
The great deep-
her legend in literature, art, and song. ~
I am captivated by the ever-rushing tide
Small, distant tsunamis raping the beach,
Granting the tiny sand crabs a free ride
From way beyond the frothing surf’s reach
Causing the terns to flutter and screech.
They tell me it ebbs and flows with the moon
Shifting back and forth, this rocking motion,
Tiny shells along the sandy beach are strewn
Noisy seagulls emitting a raucous commotion
The aquarium ocean in constant locomotion
Sometimes it creeps up to an exposed tush
Or swooshes through a hole in the stratum
Sounding like a steam kettle, or a loud whoosh
Leave it to the oceanographers at N. Chatham,
Constantly up-dating oceanographic datum.
HONORABLE MENTION
"Summer Sea in Your Window" Poetry Contest
All Poetry
April 14, 2022
written February 5, 2022
submitted to Poetry.com 2/8/22
FEATURED IN POETRY.COM COLLECTION
February, 2022
Nessie, Wattie and Kin
A full ten years before Nessie was first sighted
Colonel Arthur Trimble visited Loch Watten
A dark, looming shape Trimble’s interest ignited
It’s now speculated Nessie has some twins
Oceanographers say that before the Ice Age
Loch Ness was connected to the Atlantic sea
So let us turn the history book back a page
A similar creature’s been seen in Lake Erie
American cousins for Nessie and Wattie
Giant sea serpent’s been spotted in Lake Champlain
He is known as Champ and Lake Erie’s is Bessie
Four ocean cast outs roam an inland sea domain
Could it be that the plesiosaurus lives on
In Scotland as well as in North America
Trapped in these lakes when the Ice Age seas had withdrawn
At same latitudes, but not killers like Orka
So if I make my way to see bonnie Scotland
I’ll be chartering a boat, bringing diving gear
In hopes of catching a glimpse of Nessie firsthand
As I explore Loch Ness’s undersea frontier
*Entry for Thvia's contest
Two black doves,
were not black before.
Will not spread their wings;
...to fly.
Two black beaks,
days before were orange.
Vomiting the black; - trembling;
faces to the sand.
Two black birds,
writhing in solitude;
...fading away, eyes turning gray;
the oceanographers say they died of poison.