Secret Santa #6
sometimes walking
toes edged with grey pebbles
sandcastles shudderly glimmed
shells fell out her eyes
twinkle tears
to rise on foam cathedrals
perpetual spray churns fishy
violet crushed delight
in his shimmy scales
she is
always to twirl by ankle thrust
the flight of thirteen apple suns
together devouring dry
yesterday was calm and
tossed into tomorrow
came the dark
came the bigger sky
falling ashore
he swept waves of her
rock pools trimble now
and never limps
singing
diamond dripping blanket
pulled her soft blade knees
weighted and faster plunging
where starfish cartwheel and
stripling youth fair flashing
haunt halls deep echo blue
treasure harvest growing
come to him
time is ripe for quickening
limbs full white are flickering
from a throne of coral stars
he thunders:
I’ll have your heart
for sea change wishes
a feast for my fishes
sometimes walking
learn to swim
not breathing
radiating shadow trees
in beams of fuschia plums
gathered her to his breast
puckered skin prune wrinkle
peeling and revealing
bells clang hollow for this new day
day of all days
ever
on the shore
she’ll walk no more
under thirteen apple suns
her scales now colour wheels
she flips
her heart a map of jewels
charting lost caravans of gold
distance of spinning moon
oceans deeper encrusted
walking once in wonder
never cast asunder
in the realm of
mermen miracles
you will sometimes know
I nhave no idea who this is supposed to be, but it is utterly wonderful – and just the slightest touch of humour to offset and accent the melancholy.
Dan
I wanna become a merman. Not Ethel tho.
Ooh! An open goal and he scores
Dan
Someone doing Sarah is all I got. No pictures though.
marc
This is someone doing Sarah. The rhythm reminds me of Penny’s bio, so I guess my first instinct is to say Penny doing Sarah.
I changed my mind. The fact that this features a mermaid means a man has written it because everyone knows that men secretly want to be mermaids, but can’t admit it openly.
So I’m changing my guess to Oli doing Sarah.
I don’t like the sea Marcella. Are there such things as urban mermaids?
marc
Urban mermaids? They’re all over Poland. There’s one in the middle of Warsaw.
But how will I fit my combat trousers over my outsized tail? Plus one of the trousers legs will be redundant and look faintly ridiculous
marc
you wrap the extra pant leg around your waist and tuck it in the band. It will look extra cool that way.
I just died laughing, sorry.
Wishing all the lovely, brilliant and talented writer/artist folk on Year Zero a very Merry Christmas!
Thank you SO much, and the same to you from all of us
Dan
Someone being Sarah.
Although tbh I wish it was me as me, because I love this. Wish I had written it. Fantastic!
It’s beauuuuutiful! And it’s someone doing me! Some of these lines actually remind me of stuff from Improper Love Poems.
Marcella, I love your theory. Everyone DOES want to be a mermaid.
Part of me wants to guess that it has been written by a man. But I think I’m just going on the evidence of active voice, and that’s not necessarily indicative of author gender.
I do not want to be a mermaid! When did you ever see a mermaid last MANNING a barricade?
marc
You can be a merman. But you have to have flowy locks.
I wouldn’t mind being a mermaid if I was born to it
Penny
I still have no idea who this is, by the way.
Seeing as its Boxing day now, I’ll own up. Marcella was right with her first instinct: it was me who wrote you, Sarah. Sorry to disappoint with my gender!
Penny.
Oh, that’s marvelous! You’re brilliant!
I can only concur
Dan
It was great fun but I do so wish I’d had time to work it up. It doesn’t do justice to Sarah.
Penny
Oh, no, no, no! Some of those lines I’m really really really tempted to steal, like “always to twirl by ankle thrust / the flight of thirteen apple suns”. And this one, which come to think of it, should’ve told me it was you “puckered skin prune wrinkle”.
When I publish Beautiful Things, can I put this in it? I think it would do very well!
Wonderrful – and yeah, that line is pure Penny – which is why you did such a great job of writing her
Dan
The Interloper must ask: Does it matter at all who is “doing” whom ? It is GOOD, ain’t that enuf?
It’s really surprised me how good tehse stories are. What started out as a (probably) drunken idea to keep ourselves amused on Christmas week when we figured no one else would show up has produced some stunning pieces.
Dan
It’s true! It just proves how we actually are really good writers. Doesn’t matter who we’re pretending to be.
I knew the ‘wrinkle prune’ line was a dead give away but left it as a clue! Knowing me, I’ll re-write this poem thingy & feed it into something else I’m working on.
Pen