Searching Song
Word-Bird
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Nick Hobgood,
‘Saddleback anemonefish and their anemone home from East Timor‘
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Please also enjoy this video!
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It is time – She is ready to lay all her eggs;
I have prepped our anemone home.
Now I seek a nice nest, not a nursery on legs,
but a structure to stay and not roam.
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I am searching with my mostly monochrome mates;
we are yellow in face and fins too,
and we’re scaling the seafloor in shiftiest straits
on our quest through the beautiful blue.
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Here’s a shell, of a sort. It is sturdy. She’ll like!
We begin to try moving it. Wow!
It is heavy… and seems quite intent on a hike –
hey, a hermit crab dude, we see now.
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I am searching with my mostly monochrome mates;
we are yellow in face and fins too,
and we’re scaling the seafloor in shiftiest straits
on our quest through the beautiful blue.
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Next, a bottle. It’s light and a stylish design;
maybe She will appreciate this?
Ah, it’s off, floating swiftly away through the brine,
no contender; just one more mere miss.
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I am searching with my mostly monochrome mates;
we are yellow in face and fins too,
and we’re scaling the seafloor in shiftiest straits
on our quest through the beautiful blue.
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But this coconut shell’s looking good; some way out,
yet the Queen’s here to help. She is pleased!
Roll it, roll it, we sing, in a sonorous shout,
as we park it, with skill. Expertised.
I was searching with my mostly monochrome mates;
we are yellow in face and fins too,
and we scaled all the seafloor in shiftiest straits
on our quest through the beautiful blue.
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Fliss: Well met, dear Word-Bird! You’ve received another video?
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W.-B.: I have indeedy, FT. Our friend was rather taken with last month’s frogfish poem and sent an array of saddleback clownfish by way of celebration.
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F: Well, isn’t that pleasant. And once again you’ve been inspired to compose a poem!
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W.-B.: Very much so! It is a sweet story, the male and his fish-friends on a quest, as I put it, to find a nest for the female’s eggs. I very much enjoyed Sir David Attenborough’s narration and the wonderful scenery.
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F: Yes, Sir David is an excellent narrator. I agree that it’s a sweet story, W.-B. Terrific teamwork too!
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W.-B.: Yes, a fine example of collaboration, especially where the Queen Herself turns up and helps to roll the shell home. I use a chorus to emphasise the good work involved, making a few little adjustments at the end.
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F: Well, we’re all for collaboration at Well Met! I like the additional refrain Roll it, Roll it, too. That sits well with the meter, I think.
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W.-B.: Woo-hoo! Yes, on this occasion I opted for alternating lines of anapaestic tet and anapaestic tri. Here is my notation:
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o-o-O o-o-O o-o-O o-o-O
o-o-O o-o-O o-o-O…
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F: How lovely, W.-B. The big-egg-little-egg approach seems particularly suited to a poem featuring eggs, and it even looks like bubbles here.
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W.-B.: Let us forever blow bubbles, FT, as in the song!
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F: A charming thought, W.-B., to end this month’s issue of Well Met. May all our readers be bubbly, or something like. Our thanks to you, and to our excellent contributors. We hope to be back on 1st October. Until then, enjoy the beginning of Autumn, all the fun of the Fall!
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Word-Bird has been Colombine Companion to FT since 2011, after FT sustained a life-changing injury in hospital. This affected her right knee and somewhat impacted her brain too. Over the years, W.-B. has become increasingly well known in poetry circles and is happy to be on pleasant terms with a number of excellent poets.
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