Pelicans, their bodies
become a slick of matted
and shivery brown,
bob with the rest of the day's debris,
the plume of their ocean-bestowed miters
soon to be drawn into the crude's undertow.
In the day's last light
threading through oily surf,
laughing gulls hover.
© 2010 Maureen E. Doallas. All Rights Reserved.
_________________________
I wrote this poem in response to Carry On Tuesday, which each week provides a prompt that participants are to use wholly or partly in an original poem or prose piece.
The prompt for Tuesday, June 8, comes from the opening lines of Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence: A Novel: In the day's last light. . . .
To read other Carry on Tuesday contributors' poems or prose for prompt #56, go here.
Posts
14 comments:
this is one of your best I think
crude
undertow
pulling under
hope rising
for grace
to carry on
"Pelicans, their bodies
become a slick of matted
and shivery brown,
bob with the rest of the day's debris,
the plume of their ocean-bestowed miters
soon to be drawn into the crude's undertow.
In the day's last light
threading through oily surf,
laughing gulls hover."
I love ocean-bestowed/miters/ -- the reverse consecration of impending death by oil, the double entendre of the crude's/undertow and the immense and heartbreaking irony of the laughing gulls. Brava...xj
So much sadness and potential continued loss ...
The real cost of the disaster can't be counted in dollars.
Wonderful poem, Maureen! You create an intense identification with natural life (in this case, pelicans) and its imminent destruction. I agree with Jenne that the irony of the "laughing gulls" is heartbreaking, and in my interpretation it is also a kind of metaphor for the current callousness of BP execs. Thank you so much for sharing.
"Laughing gull" was a good choice.
I very much appreciated this poem (and your response to mine today).
Thanks for using poetry to bring attention to this important issue.
This is a beautiful poem - thank you!
xo
So sad. Beautifully said though.
- Dina
It is heartbreaking -- I find myself not wanting to look at the images.
It is events like this that leave me feeling so helpless -- and words like yours that give rise to hope again.
It is so tragic on so many levels, but I have hope that in time and with cooperation from industry, government and good people we will recover.
Beautiful poem, Maureen.
It looks like we both have the same thing on our minds this week. beautifully done.
Thought-provoking, strong images, especially the miters. Really like it. :)
I love the Carry on Tuesday prompts--everyone takes the quotes in such wonderful directions.
Post a Comment