15 May 2011

Sand, Sea And ... Solitude?

By Fee Easton

A water colour sky and impasto sand-ripples paint a waiting game. One marker buoy anchors a stranded boat to puddled remnants of an ebb tide. In no hurry to begin its next seafaring journey, the wooden craft soaks up sunshine, admires its reflection in each striated salt pool, and waits for its master, the sea...

By way of a change for me, a 55 word Flash Fiction offering for One Shoot Sunday. But now I've discovered that the sea theme carries on at Monday's Child, so I've decided to add it to this post, even though Monday is nearly over, and Sunday is long gone.

Illustration by: Carmen L. Browne - 1917
Sea Edge

In creeps the water,
tickling my toes,
swirling its whirlpools.
But nobody knows
where the sea comes from
or where it all goes.

Was it in China,
or distant Japan
that this pool of ocean's
blue ripples began?
How many more miles
will they have to span?

How far have they travelled
and how many waves
crashed onto shorelines
or hid inside caves
before they arrived here,
so buoyant and brave?

 

18 comments:

  1. Nice! The first 55 I got to read today :) Like how how personify the boat into a sailor..."admires its reflection in each striated salt pool" —great line. Tight 55.

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  2. Wonderfully shared! Beauty in them thar words.

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  3. smiles. waits for its master...hope it does not have to wait long...

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  4. Agree with Dustus - my fave line is the boat admiring itself. Gently humorous and touching.

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  5. Nice one! Hard to tell a good story in 55 words, but you did a stellar job!

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  6. We used the same photo Pen. You identified a master. I didn't. I have not tried the 55 word form, you've captured the essence. Can your photo wizardry tell what the yellow "thing" is in the boat?

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  7. Just delicious! And it IS a watercolor sky. I went for a walk today and admired the clouds reflection in the water and they looked just like these. I was so sad I didn't have my camera... (I'm seldom without it...)

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  8. waiting for its master - the sea...love this

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  9. For Ann, and anyone else who is wondering, - I think you'll find the yellow thing in the boat is simply its outboard motor, fixed to the stern...

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  10. Love this photo! Looks a little lonely waiting there, yet before long it will be floating in bliss!

    http://amyskaleidoscopeeyes.blogspot.com/

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  11. Nice 55, Jinksy--very much an alive and looking eye you took to this little craft, down to the ripples, with their amazing pattern, which it took your words to make me notice.

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  12. Truly enjoyed this AND Sea Edge! Oh the inquisitive thoughts of a child. I am new to the Flash 55... you couldn't have explained it any better than this. Thank you.

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  13. Your rhyming is so wonderful...you took this little one around the world on the crest of a brave wave....lovely...bkm

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  14. Great take on them both !!

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  15. I love your images of the ocean. I grew up being able to visit he ocean often and to swim in it's salt water coolness on a hot day. Brings back memories that helped shape me. Thank You!

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  16. brilliant, the imagery is magical.

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  17. Both wonderfully shared... love the flow, the transitions from one to the other.

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