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24.9.15

WATERBIRD - a 100 word story-poem

This week's Friday Fictioneers' photo prompt, taken by The Reclining Gentleman and posted on https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/
sent my mind into verse, which is preferable to the REverse it's been in since we moved last week from Tenerife to Sussex.
When I've got my act together I shall create a new blog - I can no longer call myself 'expat' - and I hope you will follow me to that new online venue.
Meanwhile, here's my poem.



WATERBIRD

Rumble of cars lulls my babies to dreamland
Safe on our island which nobody sees -
Concrete foundations trap silt from the river
And grass for our nest grows from wind-carried seeds.

Here by the river beneath heedless traffic
Barges chug slowly and, stirred by their wakes,
Mud from the bottom floats up to the surface
Carrying morsels of food for my chicks.

No fox will swim through the eddies around us,
No cat will risk the climb down from the road -
Man has destroyed my natural habitat
But still inadvertently shelters my brood.

37 comments:

  1. A lovely poem, Lizy, and it flows so well. Hope the move went to plan and you are settling in OK.
    Ann

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  2. Dear Liz,

    Love the verse and the voice. Well done.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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  3. Such a different take on the prompt and a different presentation too. Well done Lizy, hope you are enjoying being back in Blighty. I wonder how long before you get itchy feet again.

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    1. Thanks Sandra. We won't be moving out of this village again if we can help it!

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  4. Good poem, Liz. I'm impressed that you've kept up with these through the turmoil of moving.

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    1. Thanks Robert - I'm quite impressed myself!

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  5. Very nice, Lizy - great slant rhymes. Plus you've written a poem to make us think - well done!

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    1. Thanks Susan - is a slant rhyme one that resonates rather than rhymes exactly?

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  6. Nature is stronger than all of us, I think.

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  7. Yes, my understanding of a slant rhyme is one isn't a perfect rhyme, yet still allows the poem to flow. (Although I'm not a poet, so if someone knows better, I'm willing to be corrected!) :)

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    1. Thanks Susan - the terminology of poetry is a closed book to me!

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  8. That is delightful and totally different from everything I've read here today. Welcome back to my beloved county of Sussex! I can't imagine living anywhere else.
    Rosey Pinkerton's blog

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    1. Thanks Rosey. We won't be moving out again.

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  9. Very nice. The rhythm moves along smoothly, just like the river. I love the point of view, too.

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    1. Thanks margirene - it flowed into my mind smoothly too.

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  10. Love this point of view and all in poetry to boot!

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    1. The little island caught my eye straight away, so I had to write about it.

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  11. Great poem. It flows so smoothly and lulls, just as a river would. I like how man has destroyed yet given shelter. Nice contradiction. Good point of view. All the best in your new home,

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    1. Thanks Irene. It's inevitable how tall buildings have become the cliffs of today to some birds, and we're increasingly having to share our environment with other creatures.

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  12. Amazing how nature carries on despite all the damage we cause, isn't it

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  13. I simply adore this, moreover for the fact you went in a completely different direction from most of us. Lovely poem!

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  14. A great point of view.. and a wonderful anapest rhythm to your poem.. I'm glad the waterfowl have found a great place to nest.

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    1. Thanks Bjorn - I shall now have to look up anapest rhythm!

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  15. That's so lovely.

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  16. There's always a way! Sounds like a very snug place for a new home.

    Lily

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    1. I had to stop myself calling my poem ' Underneath the Arches' - that title's already been taken!

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  17. Beautiful and thought-provoking poem, and what I love even more is your definition of verse as the opposite of reverse. Great!

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    1. Than you Ga H - and thankyou for becoming a regular commenter on my blog, too.

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  18. I really like your poem very much. I am glad the mother bird and her babies survived. It is a nice take on the prompt because it seems like most of the posts are about death. :)

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    1. I guessed they would be - a dark bridge at night does make one think of danger - but I saw the little island .

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