Havsrå

A writing project by your hosts, Siren and Lux. Our only task is to write something—anything—based on a weekly prompt, due on Sunday. Prompts posted Mondays.

[havsra]

First stab at writing a sonnet

Shoreline: The Mermaid’s Sonnet

The waves grow rough and crash upon the rock Till sand remains as bone returns to soil And tide beats on the drum of shore, a clock No man can cheat, nor bribe with wit or toil And so, in sun and storm the days still pass Mere waves of breath and bone and blood, no more Than wicked swells, as heartbeats crest so fast Then break, when dropped upon horizon’s floor. And yet, I am no man to fret and fall In fate’s cruel arms, or ocean’s game with time No heart have I to break or hear tide’s call To feel the drum must press your lips to mine And coax life’s end from slowly dimming eyes That see beyond the shoreline’s lullabies.

[mattmurdockarchive]

Twisted Fairy Tales - The Little Mermaid.

[havsra]

This reminds me of Part of Your World.

[havsra]

Prompt 13: Sonnet

No content prompt this week—instead, a format one. You can use any form of sonnet (Shakespearean, Petrarchan, Terza Rima, Free Verse, etc); the only requirements is that it be no more than 14 lines long and it must possess a volta.

[havsra]

Red and Red

i loved a girl like the ocean once some girls are gas pumps in winter some are radio towers glitching some are ovens left open too long  but some, some are just the ocean and she was

a girl who later loved me said she never needed to travel to go seaside because she had found the tide rolling waves behind my teeth i was the seashell she held gently balanced up to her ear so i roared coastlines at her in our thick fog nights i was the lighthouse a league too far my cruel eyes flashing quickly in the distance

i loved a girl like the moon once some girls are lemonade on porches some are summer asphalt smoking some are round trip tickets home but some, some are just the moon and you are

but when you put a drop of blood in the ocean—and you were, my love, red and red with me—what is a drop compared to the entire Atlantic? you liquidated and evaporated but still i breathe you in like salt air and still your magnetism calls to me

the shift in my ecology won't let me forget that drop i know, love, the iron price that anchor rust, red and red our saline bodies created  for blood and briny deep

the sea in me was made to swell up when you sing

[havsra]

Justice

my blood is 

your blood is

an ocean of tears

an ocean of bodies

drops in the wash out

together moving 

it's flash flood

of your blood

and my blood

[havsra]

Simple Haiku

the harvest moon of

your heart calls to my blood as

waves sing to shorelines

[havsra]

Prompt 12: the ocean of our blood

"And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came. "

— President John F. Kennedy

Write about whatever comes up for you when thinking about blood, the ocean, the beating of the waves of our hearts, etc.

[havsra]

Practice Makes Perfect

I'm willing to bet you 

dollars to doughnuts:

Odysseus had a mother like mine.

When I left her, siren song singing

on the shores of a bone island heart

breaking

my ears stuffed with wax

and tied to the mast of my own crooked spine

I didn't yet realize she would always, always be singing

in the beats of the waves

and the waters of my blood.

[havsra]

Siren Song 1/4

Hush now, it's alright, you have come so far I can see the anchors in your eyes formed from the weight of all your lives and the journeys you took in this one You are an old soul Yes, that's clear But you've earned this for every fight, every struggle, every difficult moment has led to this one You can rest now You're not too far off, just finish the distance Your crew could use sturdy ground beneath them and for the waves to go still for a little while and for you not to worry about what that means for your rudders and sails; it's okay to stop here and take a break for a little while Tell me the story the one where you're the hero I love that one best, especially when it looks like you're not going to come out on top, but you do Tell me about that time when you saved a life, that time when you sacrificed, that time when you loved more than you thought you knew how to Tell me about that time you almost broke in two from being wrenched in different directions and tell me about the time you near collapsed because there was no way out And then tell me the story about how you made it through because you're stronger than they think you are and you're stronger than you think you are It's alright, hush now You deserve this, take a rest Come here, lay your head on my chest and let me take the anchors out of you so I can throw them in the ocean and watch them drag you drowning down 'Alas, it is a boring song, but it works every time.'

[havsra]

Prompt 11: Siren Song

What is the song that lures sailors to their deaths? What are the words? What is sung? What is said? What is it at the volume of whispers on island rocks? What is the belted tune thunder rolling raging storms?  What is the bait when it is swallowed down to drown?

[havsra]

Angling for Beginners

I learned my tricks from an

undertow woman-

don't worry, you'll get the 

hang of it-

now two things to keep in mind:

they really like a sense of security

and think they can tread water forever

[havsra]

Stillness

sometimes we tread water to keep our heads above the waves surrendering to soreness in the hopes of a lifeline

but not all stillness is an act of survival

sometimes we beat our wings so fast it leaves us breathless buzzing every bit of us alive humming giving it all we've got just to stay where we are bargaining tired arms hovering just to keep on drinking in that sweetness

ecstasy and survival both have roots in stillness

there is an art, an effort to effortless balancing as the world spins and shifts

there are reasons why whole religions are dedicated to keeping still

[havsra]

Coronation

There are few things in life worth waiting worth risking for The colour of the Grand Canyon walls The sound of Niagara falls drowning out every doubt from your mind The first snow, every year, landing soft as cat's paws when they stalk prey because not everything survives cats or winter with all that white But you aren't bent on survival You were always bent on living which is a different qualifier

Always trying to sear every atom of existence into your skin because memories are scars you can take with you from when you held on too long to things that were too hot

You know what it's like to hold starlight

I thank you for that

For you, only you I am able to shed off the winter in me, set aside the hunting cat ready to lay dead things at your feet Let's skip the Canyon and Niagara  Go to the seaside tides sweeping  I'll call you Hera, queen of my heart We are small gods here and your spark is the one thing worth waiting for I will play at divinity with you, turn bird out of love for you, learn to relish the salt of fish to give you seven halcyon days just so you could lay haven eggs and hatch into your newness

Kingfisher Kingmaker, won't you crown me? and give me the sky because that's how high I go with your fingers ringing my head and your voice imbuing my name with the sound of coronation bells

[havsra]

Prompt 10: Treading Water

The usual:  use the concept "treading water" in any way that suits the fancy.

[havsra]

Grendel's Sister

They say they can remember

when the monster still had her teeth 

and I always laugh, hard

so hard the claw marks of my cobbled spine tingle

with scars to hold me erect

"Shoulders back, knockers up!"

scars that remind me, never trust,

keep the bitterness close

"All men are assholes, my dear, but here's how you can catch one..."

memories of being poured into her mold:

her hands never faltered, never shook

as instinct never blinks.

Is it love if it's all you've ever known?

I remember floating in the deepest pools

safe in our echoing cave,

those halcyon days

when I heard her voice more clearly

than my own beating heart.

[havsra]

Prompt 09: Halcyon

This can mean:

a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful

a mythical bird said by ancient writers to breed in a nest floating at sea at the winter solstice, charming the wind and waves into calm

the metamorphoses into such a bird, as by way of the Greek myth of Alcyone

or anything such a concept inspires.

[havsra]

Treefall

this is not for you this stretch of soft skin this colour now like evergreen now like indigo like burgundy like black shimmering iridescent like a mood ring these peacock feathers i preen out they are not for you this fan dance is my own exultation i am my own decoration

these pearls i warm round my neck these ribbons and flowers i weave like maypole garlands like queen this leather this lace this silk these textures that live in top drawers i don't hide them lower because they are not for you and i don't need to hide them—or me  from myself

i know what i've got going on under these clothes and you, you don't need to know i am a beacon i am a demon i am heaven's fucking gates that's where i stole the pearls from in this brave new world you want God, you want poetry you want freedom, you want goodness and you want sin 

and baby, you can't have me i belong to no one

i am not your still pond waiting for you to make a ripple of me i am not a mirror for you to see the media's caricature of me or of some other woman you left fingerstained in fantasy i am not your face reflected in my polished jewelry

this polish this shine is all mine

i was not designed by birth or cloth for your wanting

if a tree falls in the forest it doesn't matter if you hear it it doesn't fall for you not everything falls in love for you