[A Sea Dirge] [Echoes] [The Voice of the Lobster]
— Three Titles of Lewis Carroll Poems
I hear the clacking of the trap
where tattered figures rot and
the dead who tell no tales,
yet murmur hints, drifts in the stream,
deep in the murky belly of the sea.
Yet her pipes do chastise me
in green weeds for her hair
her bloody gown washed clean
abandoned there, amongst coral
and cage, dropped with rocks.
When other drunks are snored abed,
me and me rum take skiff instead
out to where she rests with he,
the rake who loved her, my best
friend, together in cold embrace.
I raise the rum and drink a toast —
their promise honored, I boast —
to they who pledged til death do part;
yet years before she took my heart,
then gave it back – and chose my brother.
Top image link here
Sanaa is today’s host for dVerse’ Poetics. Sanaa says:
The idea here is to select three titles (from a list of Lewis Carroll’s poems) and to blend them together to form a subject for a new poem.
Note- You don’t have to include the title as part of your poem but please do mention it as an epigraph and give due credit.
The List:
Jabberwocky
Brother and Sister
The Walrus and the Carpenter
A Strange Wild Song
All in the Golden Afternoon
My Fancy
The Hunting of the Snark
A Game of Fives
A Sea Dirge
Punctuality
The Aged Aged Man
A Boat beneath a Sunny Sky
Rules and Regulations
The Three Voices
Melancholetta
Epilogue to through the Looking Glass
Four Riddles
The White Knight’s Song
A Valentine
Echoes
The Voice of the Lobster
Size and Tears
Lays of Sorrows
Theme with Variations
Dedication
Tao Talk 
Superb Ms Jadeli – utterly fantastic! Well done! ✒️✒️✒️
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Thank you 🙂
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Nice use of the titles. This line ‘When other drunks are snored abed,/me and me rum take skiff instead’ sounds like the 1st line of an epic drunken ballad, lol. Loved it.
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Christopher, so glad you saw the song in it, thank you.
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We used the same 3 titles! Yours has a rollicking sway to it which was a joy to read.
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Carol, I had a heck of a time picking the right 3. First I did my best with the “3, 4, 5” titles but I couldn’t make it work. Glad you enjoyed my dirge, thank you 🙂
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This one made me smle as you closed with the clincher! Well done, Lisa!
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Thank you, Dwight 🙂
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yeah that really</strong got me too – it made me reread the entire piece to make sure I hadn't missed any clues 🙂
beautifully written, Lisa!
-David
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🙂 Thank you!
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Love it! 💙
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Thank you, Paula ❤
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Worthy of a rum toast! (K)
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Cheers!
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This is gorgeously rendered, Lisa! Wow! 😍 I love the lyrical quality of the poem especially; “Yet her pipes do chastise me in green weeds for her hair/her bloody gown washed clean
abandoned there.” Thank you so much for writing to the prompt ❤️❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa, for your praise, and also for the challenging and fun prompt ❤
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Good job Lisa….I don’t see how you fit all of that in.
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It wasn’t easy! My brain seized up trying to figure it out.
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I would have never thought of slipping the song in.
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Oh… this is like a murder ballad… a true crime for real when you close with a motiv.
I think it’s said that lobsters that has been fed corpses get’s extra juicy and fat (or maybe it was eels)
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Aha, yes, murder ballads are the best kind. I know you’ve written a few. You just gave me a chill down my spine!
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