Nevi's Contest Round 3 (Entries)

Tsunami

It was as if you pulled a stopper out
of the ocean bed, to let the water
retreat down the bay - and leave behind
threads of fungal-brown seaweed,
and smatterings of silver-green mackrel
flipping furiously between slime-coated rocks.

I stood on the beech waiting for it to happen.

Sure enough, the horizon seemed to slowly
hoist itself higher in the sky, as a wall
of water returned with the growing ferocity
of a stampede. The mackrel were all dead
by the time the ocean had reclaimed them,
and in that moment I thought
of how a subtle shift in two connected masses
deep in an unseen part of earth,
could father such force.

Tidal

The wave approaches,
silently.
In the frigid deep
the water pulses
invisibly, lightning
fast.

We are standing on the edge
of a dark river, air puffed like
flowers on our icy breath.

I caper around rocks,
silly with love and cold.
I wonder, idly,
if you would ever
propose to me there,
on the banks of
swift obsidian water.

My phone rings, and
the dark wave crouches
like a beast behind your back
as you turn
to put out your
cigarette.

A question, a few
mumbled words into the
receiver, and you return.

There, for the first time,
you see the water rising
like fate in my eyes.

What's happened, you
say. The wave
roars as it
breaks.

Your Natural Disaster

I'm ready now
to break through the crater
of poetry,
for men shall no longer
speak with a floral pen
or, a written tongue
of feminine tendencies.

My metaphorical
magma chambers
shall flow with outrageous
line breaks and excessive ellipses,
for the volcano inside
is ready to erupt anytime,

and you shall watch out
for the lava
that could melt your inside
and the ash cloud
that would engulf your sky.

I'll ever provoke you
and leave you suffering
from aftershocks.

And when you think
you've had enough,
I'll sweep you off the ground
with a 9.88 earthquake
on my poetry scale,
accompanied by
gigantic tsunamis
to relieve your scorching pain.

Still,
I know it wouldn't do you
any good.

You need more of me,
maybe another Katrina
to make you swirl and twirl
while calling my name
or, some meteor showers
for you to learn -
my pen wasn't meant
to be a siren song.

It was born to be
your natural disaster.

Omg...
the 'Tidal' hit me like a wave..

I'll sure nominate that when posted!!!

I just what to say that all of the contestants exceed my expectations

What's ur fav Michael?

I think it's interesting how, out of all the natural disasters, all three poems mentioned tsunamis. Two did tsunamis, exclusively. What are the odds?

Sib.. lol.. what?? :O

Holy mackrel! It is tough to choose a favorite when the metahors, imagery and poetic flow are so pleasing to me on all three

I know Nevi's is still going on, but this is the last round (I think?) and now is when we usually discuss who is doing the next contest.

Soo, is anyone already signed up? If not, I would be willing to do the next one!

If you want to do one in December go ahead. Ours won't be going until January.

Okay, I will have one ready once Nevis is done. It'll be short.