There is music in water.
I know this well.

I hear the chants of the bishop-fish,
that poor gentle monster locked away

in watery sepulcher.
We offer the same prayer,

born of song, baptized in salt.
Kings and queens would have us silent,

never free nor near the sea.
Yet still, we sing.


*note: i realize the bishop-fish reference and the poem title are a bit obscure (not to mention the fact that i've twisted the legend slightly); i'm fascinated by myth and wish to marry it with modern understanding but still retain some of the mystery, as did Conrad Gesner, author of the Historiae animalium. what i'm most concerned with is does this poem work?? and if not, what could be done to make it so?

it works for me. and i like obscure.

That is rather torn and lovely; I may strum this to myself quietly for rather a long time.

electrictiger wrote:

it works for me. and i like obscure.

thanks for the vote of confidence

Bercilak wrote:

That is rather torn and lovely; I may strum this to myself quietly for rather a long time.

thanks Pete. good to hear from you.

Works for me too, I think it's great! I have no idea what a bishop fish is (maybe a fishy kind of bishop?) but no doubt it fits your intention.

haha thanks Rory! if this helps at all:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop-fish

i normally hate to reference Wikipedia but this is actually a pretty decent entry.

wordsmithwannabe wrote:

haha thanks Rory! if this helps at all: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop-fish i normally hate to reference Wikipedia but this is actually a pretty decent entry.

this creature bears an uncanny resemblance to me (on a good day, that is...)

It works for me too.
(Click on the blue)More on the bishop fish. Check out the picture at the bottom.

Ozymandias wrote:

wordsmithwannabe wrote: haha thanks Rory! if this helps at all: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop-fish i normally hate to reference Wikipedia but this is actually a pretty decent entry. this creature bears an uncanny resemblance to me (on a good day, that is...)

well now that you've changed your avatar there is a slight resemblance.

doris wrote:

It works for me too. (Click on the blue)More on the bishop fish. Check out the picture at the bottom.

thank you, for both the nod yes and the link. that bottom pic is CRAZY!

This was beautiful. It works for me, too. I like the ambiguity in this piece.

wordsmithwannabe wrote:

doris wrote: It works for me too. (Click on the blue)More on the bishop fish. Check out the picture at the bottom. thank you, for both the nod yes and the link. that bottom pic is CRAZY!

I know, right!!!????

FuchsiaFestival! wrote:

This was beautiful. It works for me, too. I like the ambiguity in this piece.

thank you Sammi, i'm glad you think so.