The Fisherman-King
Word-Bird
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QJ Kang, ‘Hairy Frogfish‘
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Please also enjoy this video!
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​​We like to sit and dangle bait
for all the tasty fishes here.
We watch them swim, enjoy the wait,
and sure enough one saunters near…
a pretty little flitting thing,
quite jewel-like in its shiny scales.
‘Tis fit for this intrepid king
who roams the ocean‘s hills and dales
in spiny robes that waft and shift
through many shades of seascape hues.
We walk on fins, with lilting lift
bestowed by wearing sturdy shoes –
and GULP! We‘re snatching up a snack,
the flitting thing. Mmm! Very nice!
Then GULP! and GULP! Two more! We hack,
regurgitating once or twice
until our stomach makes a grrrowl –
the main course now, a larger dish.
We start towards a flounder, prowl
until he‘s nearly- GULP! The fish
was unaware of our approach
and flaps in vain. Our mouth balloons!
Our stomach starts to swell, encroach
around the flounder. Sleek spittoons
are not available this deep;
the water writhes with flaky phlegm,
and just before we take to sleep
we belch, waa...ARRRGH!, and cough, a-HEM.
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Fliss: [Shrieks]
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W.-B.: Well met, FT!
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F: Yes, thank you, Word-Bird; the same to you, of course, and your kingly companion!
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W.-B.: A gift from a friend, FT. He is quite distinctive, yes? It seemed fitting to compose a poem in his honour.
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F: Certainly distinctive, W.-B. I see you‘ve used the royal plural!
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W.-B.: That, too, seemed fitting! For as I watched the frogfish‘s activities on the ocean floor, I mused that he has a rare majesty, which I hope to have captured in my poem.
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F: He‘s certainly unusual. I wonder whether many other sea-beings have their own in-built quasi-bait, for example. I found an alternative video here, of a queen this time. The speed at which the species snatches up snacks is astonishing!
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W.-B.: It is even faster than your intake of biscuits, FT!
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F: Maybe!
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W.-B.: Well, this speed is why I selected iambic tetrameter for the poem, especially as I recalled our John Isbell‘s thoughts concerning ‘tet‘ during a previous discussion with him. “Light and tight, crisp and focused.“
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F: Well remembered, W.-B.! Some interesting thoughts from John there. I suppose tri would be even quicker, presto perhaps in musical terms, but often difficult to maintain, in my experience. Still, we can only keep practising, and receiving videos!
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W.-B.: Indeed. And a nice cake too, just as we hoped last month!
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F: Yes, that was a pleasant surprise! Well, time to sign off now and return to our snacking, with thanks to all our contributors and readers through August. We very much appreciate your engagement and are already looking forward to the September issue of Well Met. Until then, enjoy the rest of the Summer, biscuits and all!
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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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