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.
A lovely poem, Lizy, and it flows so well. Hope the move went to plan and you are settling in OK.
ReplyDeleteAnn
Thanks aw - we're getting there!
DeleteDear Liz,
ReplyDeleteLove the verse and the voice. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle.
DeleteSuch 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.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandra. We won't be moving out of this village again if we can help it!
DeleteGood poem, Liz. I'm impressed that you've kept up with these through the turmoil of moving.
ReplyDeleteThanks Robert - I'm quite impressed myself!
DeleteVery nice, Lizy - great slant rhymes. Plus you've written a poem to make us think - well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan - is a slant rhyme one that resonates rather than rhymes exactly?
DeleteNature is stronger than all of us, I think.
ReplyDeleteYes, 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!) :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan - the terminology of poetry is a closed book to me!
DeleteThat 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.
ReplyDeleteRosey Pinkerton's blog
Thanks Rosey. We won't be moving out again.
DeleteVery nice. The rhythm moves along smoothly, just like the river. I love the point of view, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks margirene - it flowed into my mind smoothly too.
DeleteLove this point of view and all in poetry to boot!
ReplyDeleteThe little island caught my eye straight away, so I had to write about it.
DeleteGreat 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,
ReplyDeleteThanks 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.
DeleteAmazing how nature carries on despite all the damage we cause, isn't it
ReplyDeleteHow true, Patsy.
DeleteI simply adore this, moreover for the fact you went in a completely different direction from most of us. Lovely poem!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lore.
DeleteA great point of view.. and a wonderful anapest rhythm to your poem.. I'm glad the waterfowl have found a great place to nest.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bjorn - I shall now have to look up anapest rhythm!
DeleteThat's so lovely.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it, Karen
DeleteThere's always a way! Sounds like a very snug place for a new home.
ReplyDeleteLily
I had to stop myself calling my poem ' Underneath the Arches' - that title's already been taken!
DeleteBeautiful and thought-provoking poem, and what I love even more is your definition of verse as the opposite of reverse. Great!
ReplyDeleteThan you Ga H - and thankyou for becoming a regular commenter on my blog, too.
DeleteI 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. :)
ReplyDeleteI guessed they would be - a dark bridge at night does make one think of danger - but I saw the little island .
DeleteNice rhythm.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dawn.
Delete