Call me whale-boy,
call me razor fluked,
call me sharp
in my harpoon-skin suit,
call me lungs
of tungsten steel –
you’ll need poems made of bathysphere
to hunt me down.
Lunging shark-breath,
I’m your Voodoo Sleighride
to the bottom of the sea,
blowhole Davy Jones’ locker
to smithereens,
chew the rotgut spleen.
Color me flensed, stripped,
and rendered,
blind faith with fatty acid,
my heart on fire
and burning for you now –
soul light in the tryworks.
All together now children
Repeat after me:
One fish.
Two fish.
Red fish.
Blue fish.
*Incorporating by reference the first line of Moby Dick: “Call me Ishmael”.
**Dr. Seuss, but you knew that.
For DVerse MTB
qbit 
You go places I dont’ see anyone else going ^_^ Cool. Is this lyrics? Sounds like you could sing it–
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Thanks I hope! . I meant for it to be sonic or word song like, so glad that sort of came through.
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Fantastic, a children’s book in itself. This is great:
“blind faith with fatty acid, my heart on fire and burning for you now –”
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Thanks. Glad that worked. Was aiming for super dark fairy tale on a Moby Dick theme. I think. Sort of. Lol!
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This throws down like a harpoon and cuts deep. Should have done a sound cloud; reeks of slam! Voodoo Sleigh ride to the bottom of the sea, and gobs of great allusions. You get extra points for your choices of lit. Oh, and a nod to the rhymes and meter. Standing O.
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Thanks! Moby-slam! I think I/we owe a lot of our willingness to play with language to Mr. Geisel. OK, he doesn’t roast whale heart on a spit, but somehow I can get there from the Sneeches. And Melville, well, I went looking for a harpoon in my cup of Starbucks, but all I got was a crappy latte…
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Ha! That’ll teach ya. I teach a Geisel unit each year. Astounds my kiddos.
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😆 you nailed it! 😆
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Ahahaha! Thanks!!
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(whipsering) Actually Frank, I think he harpooned it…
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😆 why yes! Yes, he did! 😆
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Lol! Thanks.
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Dark, deep and visceral – and great rollicking sound too and the last stanza lifts me up and leaves me on the shore once again. .
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Thanks so much. It was fun to write, and can’t go wrong with Dr. Seuss!
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Nice bridge from whale-boy to Dr. Seuss.
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Now this poem made me chuckle…, Nay! Aye actchyuley was a-chortlin’ hartey me lads!
.
I am picturing the teacher who has taught Moby Dick so many times, over decades it has been dissected, stripped and rendered and served up, and the student essays are so repetitive, that the fiery heart of Melville’s beast has been transformed out of sheer repetition to become as rote as One Fish, Two Fish… etc sung in harmony. This poem has actually made me want to go read the darn thing again! And Seuss! Well we have ALL always wanted to read Seuss! Well done.
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Thank you so much! Yes, once I had “Call me Ishmael” stuck in my brain, I was like ah crap, now what am I going to do? And you have very intersesting take on the Seuss – that hadn’t occurred to me, but see it there now. Great way to read the start/end literature brackets.
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I like the structure you create with your words. Like cummings meets Beck.
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Thank you. I love that – “Cummings meets Beck”!
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Dr Seuss never seemed quite so disturbing! Not a pairing of books I would have expected, but you blew the prompt out of the water. Or not. I feel like you are doing something different with your writing at the moment. It feels more expansive?
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Sarah – thanks. I don’t know why the Seuss popped into my head at the end, but I thought “Oh! That’s *dark*… ” Glad you liked the poem. Yes, I think I’m pushing the language harder, and working to stay out of the way. I appreciate that you all give it a chance.
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Somehow I see someone trying hard to read Moby Dick but giving up and looking out of the window instead….
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Hopefully you see *me* looking out the window going “how on earth am I going to write to this prompt!” LOL!
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Ha… I think ending with Dr Seuss is a clear way of escaping.
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Well, that was rather salty, mate! Enjoyed the voyage 🙂
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Thanks!
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Every work you have written, you take us readers further into unexplored territories and I love what you have created with this magnificent write. 🙂
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Thank you so much. I thought this was something you would like!
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Definitely indeed. It’s right up my alley…and I love imagery you have provoked in my senses. 🙂
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Too cool! I love, ‘I’m your voodoo sleigh ride.’
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Appreciate that!
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Love that Dr. nod! A surprise ending to such an evocative piece. Awesome!
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Thanks!!
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