We lie fixed, dark.
Waves of light butterfly
our bellies, alter our shape.
Tightly wrapped whispers,
exhaled messages in bottles
rise, burst the surface.
The ocean is solid with us.
It can be walked or even driven,
since we inhabit a mutual sea.
Glass-bottom tourists watch,
amazed by our symbiotic art,
having never seen love so deep.
tk/January 2012
I'm pleased to have the talented R.A.D. Stainforth read this poem:
Visit his excellent blog Black Dogs.
image: sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor
Join The Mag creative writing group.
61 comments:
'Tightly wrapped whispers, exhaled messages in bottles rise' and 'glass-bottomed tourists'... so lovely, Tess.
Just wonderful. And the reading, too (exactly as I heard it in my head).
=)
Stainforth serves up my poems exactly as I hear them, as I write them...he's very talented...
Yes...a love so deep. I just posted something on my blog and then came here and somehow they reminded me of each other...the rhythm, the tone? Two different "stories" but speaking of love and of love lost. Always so good to see you here.
Tess, this is absolutely delightful.
Love the poem, love underwater sculpture, but I have to say that this photo (even though I know it's a statue) makes me take a deep breath and feel a little claustrophobic!
Marcheline...sometimes love feels like that...
Love that last stanza!
Ooh, this is beautiful.
love the line "love so deep"
ah nice....funny how this pic has led so many to love...the last two stanzas are top notch tess...
Thank you, Tess
Wonderful prompt selection. Taylor's underwater sculpture park is extraordinary.
I love your line "The ocean is solid with us". Lovely lyrical poem.
I love this look at love - that's how it is, sometimes, isn't it?
I keep having to take deep breaths when I look at the picture too :)
I'm not the first, and probably not the last to say it... 'having never seen love so deep'... THAT is a divine line.
simply wonderful
oh so good when there's a solid ocean..and room to play and breathe..
"exhaled messages in bottles" - wonderful image
Hot, woman! Happy 100th!
Ah, yes.'Tis true, 'tis true. It's a beautiful waterly museum. Thanks for this one on your 100th anniversary of Magpie Tales. A lovely one, indeed!
Love it, Tess. Reminds me of a glass boat I went to in Key West.
Such a beautiful line about waves of light butterfly our bellies. It took me a bit to get that. It's really lovely. I did get it, but may be interest to check with others and consider line breaks. Maybe most people get it, I don't know--it's just that it's so lovely, I would hate to have it missed. K.
There's so much here, I'm afraid I'm not getting it all. A poem that needs to be read more than once. I love the closing line. And I love the picture prompt.
Beautifully penned!
Excellent, excellent, excellent from start to finish. I love when things come together so beautifully.
A 'decoction' of mystical expression.
hmm who would want to be free from that submersion?
Nice to meet you Tess
Well, I am glad you found love in that image. In case you don't know "The Little Water Song", I could hear it the second I saw the prompt.
This is the definitve version of that tune to me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGqU0DhVO9Y
Well, I am glad you found love in that image. In case you don't know "The Little Water Song", I could hear it the second I saw the prompt.
This is the definitve version of that tune to me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGqU0DhVO9Y
Exquisite. My new favorite of yours.
Love it! "Tightly wrapped whispers,
exhaled messages in bottles
rise, burst the surface." That is my favorite part! Lovely prompt by the way. :)
"The ocean is solid with us."....love that line...this is stunning Tess!!
Glass-bottom tourists watch,amazed by our symbiotic art,having never seen love so deep..a wonderful line...exquisite piece!
Waves of light butterfly
our bellies,
And a perfectly charming ending!
God I am glad I found this blogging thing because it exposes me to lines like these..."since we inhabit a mutual sea." and
"having never seen love so deep." thank you for the prompt and your poem!
Deep and enjoyable as usual
Beautiful, I love the depth of love at the end of the poem.
I like this muchly!
Cheers!
Beautiful. Strange how we all took different things from this one picture. I took her as both singing and praying. Others, that she was drowning. Our minds and the ways we use them are all so fascinating.
This is a very lovely read.
very nicely done....Life is not a spectator sport, yet we see many watching...just watching
Peace
"Glass-bottom tourists" is inspired.
Ack - I can't believe I've been spelling your name incorrectly all this time!!! Apologies - I just noticed when I read your comment on my blog. O.o
I love visiting you here -- poem after poem and photo after photo of such wonder and beauty and quirk and brilliance. Thank you.
"we inhabit a mutual sea"...love this. Love connects us all. We see the same moon and stars and all waters are connected.
The verse is beautifully presented and the reading, great! Thanks Tess!
Hank
Beautiful Tess.
Congratulations on your Centenary - hope there are many more to come.
Best wishes Isabel
exhaled messages, love so deep , symbiotiv art .. whoa ! what wonderful expressions :)
Impressive poem. The final stanza particularly I thought inspired. For me, the reading added another layer.
My thanks for the experience.
Beautiful. Simply breathtaking!
Dave, yes yes! Stainforth's wonderful reading adds another layer...icing on the poetical layer cake...
Yes, only deep waters can tell :) Love this.
I read the poem earlier, but I honestly didn't see the word, "Submerged" as the title. It's weird how that ended up as the final word of my own poem. I think it must have been subliminal!
I love the "Glass bottomed tourists" and the butterflied bellies.
Really wonderful!
You captured the mystery and function of his underwater sculpture beautifully.
Dear friend and follower of JJ Botta - Freelance Writer: As a result of increased writing commitments, I have recently merged this website into The Disconnected Writer (http://thedisconnectedwriter.blogspot.com/). I hope you will continue to follow my blog at this location. Of course, I will follow back. Thanks a million!
Beautiful one, Tess. Congratulations on the 100th Magpie! Here's to many more.
"glass bottomed tourists" love that. The photo is a bit scary to me. No desire to be submerged. Like your take on it though.
Love this, especially the last stanza, and the image of "glass bottom tourists" is fantastic
"love so deep" is just perfect! A great photo Tess, just inspired. Thank you.
Good, good, Tess!
Gentle readers, thank you. You make sharing my poetry so very rewarding. You are the best!
I haven't been doing much writing for a while and feel like a complete beginner again. This is exactly what I need to get my creative juices flowing again - a wonderful, multi-facetted read! Lovely! Thank you Tess!
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