April 2023 Poetry Challenge

by Rebecca Cuningham

This month, our theme is ocean creatures. For example, write a short poem about your favorite crustacean, cephalopod (octopus or squid), or cetacean; (whale, porpoise or dolphin). Teach us something new about the creature. What is unique about it? How it is particularly suited to aquatic life? G Rated please. Poet’s choice for the poetic form. I’ll translate poems that are fewer than 10 lines or 50 words. I’ll begin with two examples.

Grandmother Whale

The deepest basses
rumbled their song
to catch me in
their sonic net
The chorus of suitors
brought waves of sound
singing a prelude to
our dance of love.

–Rebecca Cuningham, 3 April 2023

Humpback Whale Jumping Photo: Zorankovacevic

Reto poético abril 2023
Este mes enfocamos en las criaturas del mar. Por ejemplo, escribe un poema sobre los crustáceos, los cefalópodos (pulpos y calamares), o cetáceos ( delfines y ballenas). Enséñanos algo nuevo sobre el animal. ¿Cómo es único? ¿Cómo está particularmente adaptado a la vida acuática? Para todas las audiencias por favor. L@s poetas escogen la forma este mes. Traduciré los poemas con menos de 10 líneas o 50 palabras en total. Empezaré con dos ejemplos.

Ballena abuela

Los bajos mas profundos
retumbaron su canción
para pescarme con
una red sónica.
En coro los pretendientes
formaban olas de sonido
cantando un preludio de
nuestro baile de amor.

–Rebecca Cuningham, 3 abril 2023

Orca Chasing Chinook. Photo: Oregon State University

Echo your Location

Click, squeak, go
my phonic lips
by the fish bladder shape
I know my prey
seeing my dinner
through dark depths
with sound.
–Rebecca Cuningham, 3 April 2023

Eco su localizacion

Clic, chirrido, producen
mis labios fónicos
para detectar el contorno del pez
por su vajiga natatoria
viendo mi cena
en la oscuridad del mar
por el sonido.

–Rebecca Cuningham, 3 abril 2023

Fecha de entrega
Tienes hasta el domingo 9 abril para colocar tu poema en los comentarios abajo o en tu sitio web con un enlace. Favor de usar la etiqueta: ffpoemapop. El 11 abril publicaré los poemas y sus traducciones. ¡Acompáñanos!

Important Dates
You have until Sunday, April 9 at noon CST to add your poem to the comments below or on your website with a link here. Please use the challenge tag: ffpoemapop. Poems and translations into Spanish or English will be published April 11. Join us!

¡Olé! –Rebecca

Tags:        
Rebecca Cuningham

60 thoughts on “April 2023 Poetry Challenge”

  3. What a good idea. I love your poems.

    Here’s my poem. Just over the 10 lines, or 59 words, I’m afraid!

    ‘Shark’ comes the cry.
    A triangular fin passes by.
    The swimmers all flee
    Leaving the sea.
    But there’s nothing to fear.
    Just a basking shark near
    With wide open jaw
    Catching plankton, nothing more.
    For he has no teeth
    As he swims beneath.
    So no need to fear
    When he swims too near.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  5. This is lovely. Thanks for this opportunity.

    The Blue Lobster

    In the depths of the sea, a sight so rare,
    A blue lobster swims with a regal air,
    Its hue so striking, a wonder to behold,
    A creature of beauty, a sight to unfold.

    Blue lobsters are unique, a genetic surprise,
    Their blue coloration, a trait that defies,
    With claws so strong, they roam wild and free,
    A true marvel of nature, a gift from the sea.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      1. Tbh I haven’t seen any ocean creature in my life. 😦

        But soon, someday

        More than 80% of the ocean is not discovered yet. So just imagine how many species must be there 😁

        I believe dinosaur live in ocean

        Crocodile count as ocean creature?

        Liked by 1 person

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  14. OK, Rebecca, this is about the Bryde’s whale discoveries. .Apologies to Lewis Carroll.
    How doth the little baleen whale
    Display his shining tail
    And pour the waters on the sea
    On every human sail.
    How cheerfully he overturns
    The oceanic laws
    And welcomes little fishes in
    With strangely angled jaws.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
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  18. Phew! My Spanish Sojourn is lots of fun, but energetic days with a full-of-life two year old don’t leave much down-time.

    Octopus

    The small boy
    coming home from school
    dances ahead of his gran, delighted.
    ‘Es pulpo para la cena!’.

    So – he loves octopus.
    Let’s hope he cares enough
    when older to leave them be –
    to swim, spawn, hunt and make a meal
    for eels and fish and albatross and whales.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
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  25. Thank you for the opportunity, Rebecca.

    Here is my poetic contribution, inspired by the incredible rescue of JJ the gray whale, who I had the great fortune of seeing (through a tank) before she was released back to the wild. 💙

    Tossed and alone, an abandoned babe
    found in the waves near L.A.
    Nurtured and fed by a dedicated team,
    giving her a chance to survive in the wild.
    Fourteen months later, weighing 19,000 pounds,
    JJ the orphaned gray whale was able
    to return to the waves.
    To her home.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      1. It truly is an uplifting story! 🐳 It was a quick write – hope it’s ok. 😆 She was amazing! Her “baby” bottle was at least twice my size. A wonderful rescue story.

        Liked by 1 person

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