is a torrent of turbulent tides
ebbing and retreating
its voice flows and scatters wide
sometimes gently whispering
often wind-blasted and cruel
embodying creatures living
in its sunless depths some bright as jewels
others as mysterious as something
on a planet orbiting the dark reaches
of space devoid of wind rain and sun
on earth oceans crash on beaches
as they have always done
Kim M. Russell, 31st March 2024
Image by Kees Streefkerk on Unsplash
It’s the day before April Fool’s Day and the first day of Na/GloPoWriMo and we have an early-bird prompt to get us started.
The challenge is to pick a word from the list provided and then write a poem titled either ‘A [word]’ or ‘The [word]’ and explore the meaning of the word, or some memory of it, as if writing an illustrative/alternative definition.
I chose the word ‘ocean’. As always , my poem is a draft.
Also linked to the dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night on 18th July 2024.
writing in north norfolk 
The structure of your poem feels like a free flowing ocean. I also love how imagery works so well Kim 👏👏👏
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Thank you, Mich!
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What wonderful rhythm — continually beating like relentless determined beautiful waves!
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I love the sound and the imagery.
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Thank you, Ruchira.
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I love the contrast of the creatures of the most unexplored depths that has been so unlikely observed, I think it best captures the mystery of the Ocean that still befalls us as humans.
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I love the rhyme in this which holds it all together and bridges that gap from one couplet to another.
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Thank you so much, Cris.
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Hi Kim, Your poem embodies the ocean in rhyme, metre and rhythm.
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Thanks so much!
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I love the imagery and personification of the ocean. The mysterious energy and life it brings to the world even though it’s doing the same thing, day in and day out.
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Thank you so much!
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I absolutely love this, Kim! The shape and structure of the poem resembles that of an ocean ebbing and flowing! 😍😍 Gorgeously rendered!
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Thank you so much, Sanaa!
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the couplet choice is so apt for the push-pull of the tide
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Thank you, Laura.
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What we take for granted is a miracle down the cosmic street!
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It really is another world down there! We need to take better care of this world within a world. Beautiful poem and I love that image. It brings instant relaxation.
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Thank you, Lisa.
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You’re very welcome, Kim.
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The imagery of your work is captivating and beautifully captured of the flow of the ocean and its interesting creatures. 🙂
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Thank you so much for reading and for your kind comment.
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You welcome. 🙂
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I like the deep ocean/deep space analogy Kim…
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Cheers Andrew!
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“on a planet orbiting the dark reaches
of space devoid of wind rain and sun
on earth oceans crash on beaches
as they have always done”
Nicely done, Kim. 🙂
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Thank you, Kitty!
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I love how you have captured the essence of the ocean and in particular it being wind blasted and cruel. It is so alive and wild.
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Thank you, Dianne.
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High as I was on my (prescribed!) non-narcotics pain relief regimen and feeling that buzz increased considerably by my selection of Pandora tunes from my New Age Synthetic Ambientes collection, I had to read your work several times, and not just because of its outstanding imagery, etc, blah, blah, blah but because your composition boosted my buzz by about a bazillion times.
Write on Sister!
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Thank you, Ron! I hope the pain relief is working and that you’re feeling better. xx
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It’s the structure of the poem that makes it a good one, for me. The surprising line breaks that make me think of that breathless pause of the wave running up the beach when it reaches its highest point before ebbing.
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I enjoyed the subtle twist revealing that the description of an ocean was not an ocean on Earth. Nicely done.
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Thank you, Maria.
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I loved hearing you read this, Kim. I could feel the ocean–all the creatures tumbled from beneath, and imagine what the oceans on other worlds must be like.
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Thank you so much, Merril. I wasn’t sure if I could read today as I’ve been quite poorly, but seeing and hearing you all cheered me up.
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You’re very welcome, Kim. I hope you’re feeling better!
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The ebb and flow, the wild and gentle…you captured all the facets of the ocean and the couplet form worked so well here.
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Thank you, Punam!
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My pleasure, Kim.
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Wonderful words Kim. Thought provoking my friend. 🙂✌🏼🫶🏼
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Thank you, Rob.
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I grew up next to an ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and you have described her beautifully. I also love the alliteration that kicks off the punch poem: “a torrent of turbulent tides”. Nice!
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Thank you, Kim!
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