Spoils of War


from the ABC set Birds, Bees and Butteflies

The corpses of crabs
float bloated and white,
belly up in the shallows;
the ghosts of spiders -
condemned to the jaws
of a plughole.

Starfish too find themselves
plucked from rock canvases;
charms on the thread of a tidal knot.
It flushes them from pool to pool
but homesick, they reach for the sky.

The jellyfish are the first wave
of an invasion, now left stranded
on the shining shingles.
Feared but blameless;
their creeping tendrils
point to the guilty one.

And the broken, hairy hearts
of horse-shoe crabs bloom
in seaweed wombs;
the shadows of bodies
that littered the Normandy beaches.

Discuss this piece in the abctales forum


Comments

elements | June 1, 2009 - 17:56

I really enjoyed the succession of imagery in this poem and the sly humour.

MistakenMagic | June 1, 2009 - 21:01

Thank you elements! I glad you enoyed the poem ;)

Magic xxx

threeleafshamrock | June 2, 2009 - 08:50

Sounds like D.Day Nice imagery, morbid but satisfying (I hate Jellyfish) ;)

Chris XX

MistakenMagic | June 2, 2009 - 10:19

Thank you Chris ;) Glad this satisfied you!

Magic xxx

Curse of 222 | June 2, 2009 - 20:59

engrossing imagery and interesting point of view. i think you've done well to capture a moment from a unique angle.
"but homesick, they reach for the sky." and "horse-shoe crabs bloom
in seaweed wombs" are my favorite bits.
this reads with an odd cadence that adds to the feel of the poem.
good work, even if it did make my stomach feel a little off.

jason

MistakenMagic | June 2, 2009 - 21:25

'even if it did make my stomach feel a little off'

- erm, alright then! Haha just kidding, thanks for commenting Jason and 'nipping' over here ;)

Magic xxx

Bradene | June 3, 2009 - 10:24

A unique and graphic way to describe an horrific historic event. One that the long dead war poets would be envious of. Well done indeed. Val x

MistakenMagic | June 3, 2009 - 11:07

Thank you Val! Glad you liked it ;)

Magic xxx

Curse of 222 | June 3, 2009 - 20:24

'even if it did make my stomach feel a little off'

all i meant was that the imagery was vivid and a bit disturbing...in a good way.
it was my pleasure to 'nip'.
jason

MistakenMagic | June 3, 2009 - 22:19

No worries Jason ;) I was only teasing!

Magic xxx

Nathan Bednarek | June 3, 2009 - 23:54

'Starfish too find themselves
plucked from rock canvases;'

I love the image in these lines and the whole poem is absolutely fantastic of course. I really enjoyed reading this. Well done.

Nathan.

MistakenMagic | June 4, 2009 - 09:03

Thank you so much Nathan ;) I'm really glad you enjoyed it!

Magic xxx

Silver Spun Sand | June 4, 2009 - 17:48

I completely missed this one, Magic. My apologies.

I can only reiterate what has already been said. Brilliant imagery and as usual from your pen, a unique way of looking back at the Normandy landings.

I too hate jellyfish, since I was in Holland once with my two girls, who were very small at the time. The three of us were swimming in the sea at a small, coastal resort, when to my horror, I realised we were literally surrounded by jellyfish. I called my kids to come back to the shore with me, trying not to panic them. They obeyed, thank goodness.

In the morning, we went down to the beach, and stranded, all the way along the shore for as long as the eye could see - jellyfish, the size of dinner-lates. Yuk!

A brilliant poem. Well done;-)

Tina xxx

Curse of 222 | June 4, 2009 - 23:20

teasing? how rude! :P

jason

MistakenMagic | June 5, 2009 - 13:44

Thank you Tina! It amazes me the size of jelly fish too! In North Wales - nowhere exotic - me and my Dad found one the size of a car tyre!

You know you love it Jason ;) Hehe!

Magic xxx

Curse of 222 | June 5, 2009 - 20:04

secrets, magic...secrets!

jason

littleditty | June 16, 2009 - 21:34

lovely sounds in this one - i thought this one could just be called Spoils. (Sorry Magic, i seem to have a title thing going on this evening! :o)

Beeme | July 28, 2009 - 08:30

Magic, this is so beautiful! All of the images add to a fantastic and slightly sad poem. Capturing the sea creatures point of view, is a great angle. And a amazing achievement x

My favorite parts:
I have so many!

but these lines are gorgeous:
'charms on the thread of a tidal knot.
It flushes them from pool to pool
but homesick, they reach for the sky.'

and

'of horse-shoe crabs bloom
in seaweed wombs;'

and also

'Feared but blameless;
their creeping tendrils
point to the guilty one.'

Love, love, love this whole poem, thank you for directing me here :)

Best wishes Beeme xx

MistakenMagic | July 29, 2009 - 08:48

Wow Beeme what a review! Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed this one ;)

Magic xxx