'Astalk the Trout..'

In crystal streams,
all babbled bright,
where gem set currents jink and play;
Beneath a blackly velvet night,
quicksilver wolves do languid prey:
Half shadows ‘neath their liquid skies,
all phosphorescent twinks and sparks;
They patient scan,
with coal black eyes,
that firmament in watchful arcs:
Where sinuous they dance and glide,
each fluid as that rushing flow;
All flash and fin to scorn the tide,
their rhythmic sambas,
to and fro:
Assassins each in nature’s dance,
all stationed fast in shadowed swifts;
Fierce ivoried against the chance,
to seize upon *Tamara’s gifts.

Their hubris plump and dappled brown,
in every haughty,
silvered scale;
Dares each the river prince’s crown,
its sceptre,
mace and holy grail:
Flailed ocean bold and riptide strong,
how dull must these poor currents play;
How drear the river’s gentle song,
how meagre spreads this stream’s buffet:
Pale each the otter,
pike and mink,
laid ‘gainst the monsters of the deep;
Where fate comes slash toothed,
in a blink,
and death itself dares not to sleep:
Thus arrogant they wolven lair,
their palates jade the bounteous brine;
Until the plumpest,
brightest fare,
dares tempt these denizens to dine.

Oh Salmo Trutta; pompous *Peal,
how poor you know the river’s wiles;
How fur and feather,
silk and steel,
each cunning craft the eye beguiles:
Or deep within its hackled wing,
all velvet bodied whipped noose tight;
There lurks unseen an acid sting,
a silver barb’ed lethal bite!
Know you the nought the lissom wrist,
that flicks and loops its silken leash;
That soft as down the surface kissed,
to tempting lay its dread pastiche:
To dance,
upon its master’s whim,
a tantalising roundelay;
And turn and twirl and soar and swim,
to lure you join its dread ballet.

When boastful beast, in prideful flight,
like mercury you flashing strike;
All thrash and foam shown moonlit bright,
as breach you fierce as any Pike:
And in that instant reckless seal,
Hell’s bargain, ‘neath a Cornish moon;
against your life swift, careless Peal,
to cast the reaper’s dice...
Too soon.
To leap and splash your fierce gavot,
as ‘cross that silvered floor you prance;
Each step,
each forced resentful trot,
stings taut the line that bids you dance!
To turn your last,
and slap and spray,
against death’s ballroom’s star shot sky;
‘Til spent and humbled,
banked you lay;
Served false a fickle, steel tailed fly...

© Sullivan the Poet 2010

'Astalk the Peal..' by Sullivan the Poet
from the forthcoming collection 'Bronze Bell Jack..'

*Cornish Goddess of the rivers and streams

*Cornish name for Sea Trout

On 2010-08-26 15:57:40 -0400, Sullivan said:

'Astalk the Peal..' by Sullivan the Poet

I smell a sock.

On 8/26/2010 4:28 PM, D. LaCourse wrote:
On 2010-08-26 15:57:40 -0400, Sullivan
said:

'Astalk the Peal..' by Sullivan the Poet

I smell a sock.



actually, very creative use of language, imagery, and rhyme, imo.
i enjoyed reading it. thanks to sullivan, or if a pseudonym, whoever
created and posted it.

jeff

On Aug 26, 1:28*pm, D. LaCourse wrote:
On 2010-08-26 15:57:40 -0400, Sullivan said:

'Astalk the Peal..' by Sullivan the Poet

I smell a sock.

Sure en begorrah laddie. . .

But let bygones be bye gone
and move onto the new.
Besides its summer
and sandals will do.

Dave of the Jungle

On 2010-08-26 18:03:16 -0400, jeff said:

On 8/26/2010 4:28 PM, D. LaCourse wrote:
On 2010-08-26 15:57:40 -0400, Sullivan
said:

'Astalk the Peal..' by Sullivan the Poet

I smell a sock.



actually, very creative use of language, imagery, and rhyme, imo.
i enjoyed reading it. thanks to sullivan, or if a pseudonym, whoever
created and posted it.

jeff

Never said otherwise. On a second look, it appears to be legit, and
not a sock. Too many socks recently. d;o)

Dave

On 08/26/2010 12:57 PM, Sullivan wrote:

© Sullivan the Poet 2010

'Astalk the Peal..' by Sullivan the Poet
from the forthcoming collection 'Bronze Bell Jack..'

*Cornish Goddess of the rivers and streams

*Cornish name for Sea Trout

Hi Sullivan,

Thank you for sharing.

Oh man am I going to take a lot of crap for what I am
about to write. I really mean no offense. I found
the poem difficult to read and even more difficult
to try and figure out what you are trying to say. But,
I may be alone in this as I really, really do not
like poetry to start with, except Cowboy Poetry,
which I adore.

The poem seems to be well suited to a female audience,
better than a male audience. If females are
your audience, I think your book will do well. If
guys are your audience, I would study Cowboy Poetry
and point your writing in that direction.

Remember that guy have a short attention span, we
are always hungry, we always want to play, we don't
speak, and we don't listen to a word you say.

Good luck on your book!

-T

On Aug 26, 7:12*pm, Todd wrote:
On 08/26/2010 12:57 PM, Sullivan wrote:

© Sullivan the Poet 2010

'Astalk the Peal..' by Sullivan the Poet
from the forthcoming collection 'Bronze Bell Jack..'

* *Cornish Goddess of the rivers and streams

*Cornish name for Sea Trout

Hi Sullivan,

Thank you for sharing.

Oh man am I going to take a lot of crap for what I am
about to write. *I really mean no offense. *I found
the poem difficult to read and even more difficult
to try and figure out what you are trying to say. *But,
I may be alone in this as I really, really do not
like poetry to start with, except Cowboy Poetry,
which I adore.

The poem seems to be well suited to a female audience,
better than a male audience. *If females are
your audience, I think your book will do well. *If
guys are your audience, I would study Cowboy Poetry
and point your writing in that direction.

Remember that guy have a short attention span, we
are always hungry, we always want to play, we don't
speak, and we don't listen to a word you say.

Good luck on your book!

-T

You don't know much about women. I suspect you are not one of them.

On the other hand, you don't know much about men either.

Hm.....

g.

On 08/26/2010 09:18 PM, Giles wrote:

You don't know much about women. I suspect you are not one of them.

Guilty.

On the other hand, you don't know much about men either.

Hm.....

g.

I was wondering if I had escaped your scrutiny. I
though maybe you were sick or something. Or, maybe
you got a chance to go fishing. :-)

-T

On Aug 27, 12:17*am, Todd wrote:
On 08/26/2010 09:18 PM, Giles wrote:

You don't know much about women. *I suspect you are not one of them.

Guilty.

On the other hand, you don't know much about men either.

Hm.....

g.

I was wondering if I had escaped your scrutiny.

The world abounds with more interesting, productive and gratifying
things to wonder about.

I though maybe you were sick or something.

You were right. I've got a cold.

Or, maybe you got a chance to go fishing. *:-)

Chances to fish are abundant and cheap. But then, so are chances to
listen to blue jays hold raucous counsel, to ponder the significance
of the early dropping of maple leaves, to consult with meadow voles,
to mud-pack chestnut blight cankers, to chat with friends, to savor
pickle mustard greens, to photograph native wildflowers, to check on
the ripening of hazelnuts and try to determine the best time to pick
them in order to ensure ripeness and yet beat the squirrels, to effect
repairs on the pond, to stare at the blueness of the sky, to read a
good book about botanizing and zoologizing in the British countryside,
to linger over the question of whether to have a cup of coffee, a
beer, a glass of wine, a bowl of ice cream, some of last night's left-
over pizza.....or some combination thereof, to repair runoff damage to
the driveway, to mow the paths between the rows of trees, to check up
on the butterflies, and a host of other products, passtimes, problems,
pet projects and ****ants.

In fact, each day presents such an infinitude of chances that one
could easily spend all one's time merely cataloguing them.....to the
detriment of the chances of accomplishing anything else. That might
even be amusing for a while. Ultimately, though, I think it would be
stultifying. One would likely end up becoming the kind of person who
makes stupid assertions and then tries to cover his ass with further
helpings of stupidity.

Not my kind of hobby.

g.

On Aug 26, 4:03*pm, jeff wrote:

actually, very creative use of language, imagery, and rhyme, imo.
i enjoyed reading it. thanks to sullivan, or if a pseudonym, whoever
created and posted it.

Me too. Thanks.

Jon.