Saturday, April 19, 2014

LUNCH WITH AN EX AT THE SNOUT OTTER CLAM PUB

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* Peruvian Hat * Snout Otter Clam * Strawberry Top * Incised Moon * Sparse Dove * False Cup-and-Saucer * Leather Donax * Shuttlecock Volva * Striped Engina * Tricolor Niso * Triangular Nutmeg * Shoulderblade Sea Cat * Woody Canoebubble * Ghastly Miter * Heavy Bonnet * Tuberculate Emarginula * Lazarus Jewel Box * Unequal Bittersweet * Atlantic Turkey Wing *
What are all those, you ask. They are the genesis of today's NaPoWriMo prompt. Someone in the prompt department got ahold of a comprehensive guide to sea shells, and these are some of their names. Who knew? And someone in the prompt department promptly got the idea to lay some of these names on us and suggest we write a poem including some of the names. However one would want to do that. 

Lunch With An Ex at the Snout Otter Clam Pub 

Remember when you asked why I had
a striped engina and I had to turn away
to hide a smile before explaining that the word
was vagina and why did you think it was striped,
anyway? Oh, the confusions that can arise 
when a word is mispronounced, misunderstood.

And now here we are. We receive our libation 
in a false cup-and-saucer. I have decided, unilaterally,
 to call those wizened bumps atop my bra
 a strawberry top, to go with the muffin top
couched lower down. A veritable meal on the torso,
I don't even have to go out. The sparse dove of truth
flies around our heads, looking for a place to land. 

The shoulderblade sea cat prepares to pounce 
on the Atlantic turkey wing, just off the coast 
of some celebratory meal or other. Although we are
unequal, bittersweet is the way into the Lazarus jewel box
that lurks beneath the incised moon, your Peruvian hat
looking svelte and prickly alongside my heavy bonnet.

I hear you're driving a Shuttlecock Volva now.
Me? I have an old sedan I call Woody Canoebubble
because when I drive it in the rain the floor bubbles up. 
(I named it Woody after you, as a joke, you understand.)
And that jacket, the one hanging on the bedpost, 
is it leather, you wonder? If you dunno, donax. 

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2 comments:

Carla said...

Brilliant Linda! Well done with some lovely musical words.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful. I didn't even recognize a seashell in the bunch. You made each word your own. You are a naughty girl, aren't you, Linda? I like that in a friend as well as a poet.