Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company! discussion

Thank you Ryan! (I thought it was a bit corny, but matched the theme in a bemusing way.)

Nice continuation! Filled with possibilities! Alas, it is approaching midnight and my eyelids are starting to get heavy. We'll see if I can come up with something before I fall asleep.

Eons, like water
pass from oceans to rain clouds
rivers to bladders.

I was tempted to try this... and not really sure mine fits anywhere. Wrote it earlier today before Guy posted his. :)

-o-

Shell dragged by the inch
on secreted slime, the snail:
galactic spiral.

Merry Christmas and a very happy new year Alex! And thank you!

Jim, it's perfect! Welcome to the haiku thread!

Ryan, Guy, and Jim, these are beautiful!


The vast, scorched deserts
I roam, and the cold sea plains,
with chambers of pearl.

Welcome to Haiku, Jim! Beautiful effort, with contrasting feels and images. And a brilliant link to Ryan's lovely Haiku.

Hello Al! Merry Christmas!

M, great imagery. Okay, here's my go:


The new chambers made
of nacre and conch, couched
time in their shells' whorls.

Beautiful, Jim! And welcome. Thank you M and Guy.

In Fibonacci's
chamber I saw galaxies
spiral like sea shells.

I followed a dream
to morning, infinity
in simplicity.

Eerie music of
the deep echoed along walls
of pearlescent halls.

Excellent, M!

Poseidon's kingdom
sways; haunting melody of
mermaids and whale-song.

Thank you, Ryan! You’ve written a wonderful follow-up, in which I see you’ve brought onto the undersea stage my favorite sea creatures: mermaids.

They called her Bubbles.
She sang ’em low, nightly on
The Lawrence Whelk Show.

Tiny as she was,
and she was very tiny,
her voice filled the seas.

Hi Cs and low Cs
her song made the welkin dance
an alluring welcome.

Sweet melodies of
peace float to the surface where
sunshine mixes it.

And where the light lays,
the melodies are like drops
of eternal life.

But when the sky cries,
the songs turn to deep sorrow.
And the oceans still.

Beautiful, Stephanie!


From the haunted eyes
of the disconsolate skies,
into the ocean

strange teardrops fell,
drawn from a well--a dark, deep,
forgotten potion.

Wow! Stephanie and M, these are exquisite!

The cool ocean haunt
welcomed the lonely mermaid
and eased her sadness.

The sound of music
was potion enough to give
renewal and grace.

Thank you, M and Guy! I really love your second haiku there, M. And I love your piece, Guy!

Renewal she sought
but poison she found in the
darkest abysses.

Where the arms of a
dark monster lie, waiting for
innocent mermaids.

To morph them into
creatures of the night, servants
of the dark waters.

Creatures to take the
light from the day, and give the
moon her silent say.

Thank you, Guy and Stephanie. These will be hard to follow! Stephanie, I can imagine an entire narrative made up of stanzas like the ones in #3140.

What lurks in the deep
will have her soon--what couches
in the ageless ooze,

its barbed tentacles
having strewn all about it
a bizarre refuse.

I know me too! Haha. I had so much fun writing them. Of course, by the time I was finished with the last three, Guy had posted so I quickly had to add the first one. I really love writing haikus. And I like your addition, M; very nice.

On the ocean floor,
lies the old remains of a
ship of quiet death.

Lying in wait for
the mermaid to sign her fait.
Despair creeps from it.

And in the blue sea
Poseidon can more than see,
the abyss waiting

for the sweet agents
of light to drown in their pride.
Alive but soon dead.

Beautiful and interesting, M and Stephanie. Except that the Christmas dinner prep work is calling me, now, I'd love to take up the gauntlet. Merry Christmas!

Thank you, Guy, and merry Christmas!

Just beautiful! Excellent stuff, Stephanie and M. My Christmas has been and gone but I think you are all still going...so Merry Christmas :)

Merry Christmas, Ryan, and thank you! Stephanie, #3142 is just stunning. I love the image of “the old remains of a / ship of quiet death . . .” I’d add to it, but I’m fading out fast.

Goodnight, pirates! May you have dreams of, well, sunken ships and long-haired mermaids.

Thank you, Ryan and M! Goodnight and be safe!

Deep currents thread its
rotting sails, and only the
porpoises and whales

hear the strange music
of despair sung by a ghost
on a crumbling stair.

Stephanie, I've read #3142 a number of times now. I absolutely love it! You've thrown in some very subtle pearls of brilliance that I really like and the overall language, flow and feeling are stunning. Truly beautiful. :)

Thank you, Ryan!

Wood trickles to the
sea floor where the desperate
ghost songs drift away.

And next to the dark
abyss lies a small light to
warn of the danger.

Siren songs across
the ocean pull the mermaids
away from the depths.

Across the water
they float to innocent ears,
filled with love and fears.

Neither in major
or minor keys nor any
of the ancient modes,

the eerie music
echoed from the sea’s caverns,
the mermaids’ abodes.

And in these caverns
lay the wounded and healers,
hoping for melodies

to heal their hearts and
mend their broken bones forever,
that seas may be healed.

And where the seas are
healed, there also may lie the
renewed hopes and dreams.

Star-checked lady moon
silver sound on crystal beam
handspun for the night.

Purple siren throat sings
songs of deep sea-crets
under the cover of mantaray.


Hello guys, this was the first thread I checked out, with some of my old friends participating. Couldn't resist. Take this as my introduction to the game.

Beautiful, Rose! I’ve just now seen it. I have found this thread (as you can probably tell) utterly addictive.

Her gown whips through the
chill, night air. And lady moon's
voice is heard in whispers.

Sweet and kind she sings,
bringing healing in her wings.
White and delicate,

they dance across the
skies. Voices of the earth the
wolves are believed to

be lone protectors
of every live thing that breaths.
In the night they skulk.

I realize this is a little off-topic. I got lost somewhere.


The ship foundered in
the gloam. I drifted for days
on a broken spar.

Knowing I never
would see home, I kept my eyes
on the evening star.

The evening star
danced the night away
while the ship foundered.

Yes,M, totally addictive.

These are exquisite! A beautiful start to my day thank you, Rose, M and Stephanie.

Sailors' star guides us
home-reflected glory of
a death, eons past.

#3151 is one of my favorites, M. You write with such grace.

Exquisite, indeed!

I also wanted to share that, M's poem 'The Old Municipal Pool' has made it to the finals in the Poetry group!

Congratulations, M! Another stunning poem!

I just read that too. Congratulations, M! A worthy finalist indeed.

Excellent, Stephanie, M, Ryan and, Rose. Rose, welcome to the delightful WSS Haiku thread! Nicely done.

Congratulations M!

The ship wrecked sailor
shaved her star-crossed sea legs
in the lost lagoon.

Thank you! I can’t believe it. I feel like I’m dreaming. All I can think is that they must have had a really bad month.

LoL! I know what you mean. But, when I went to vote, you were tied for the lead. It is typical M: exquisite in setting, evocative in tone to what isn't being said. Loved it. And I am sure I've read it before. [Pause to check.]

Yup! I knew it. The language resonated with the remembrance of it. Week 127!

Thank you, Guy! That’s very nice of you to say. When I read through poems posted in the monthly contest, I selfishly find myself looking for something that resonates with me in such a way that I feel (as a friend of mine says) as if my molecules have been rearranged. I just scanned the first page, and, for whatever reason, #37 does that to me.

She laughed, a pirate’s
daughter, as shades of evening
possessed the lagoon.

She lay in my arms,
in obsidian water,
under the full moon.

In the calm water,
lit by the bewitching moon,
the mermaid looked on.

The pirate's daughter
will be leaving the lagoon,
her night's nearly done,

The mermaid muttered
as her frail heart turned to stone,
and feeling was gone.

His arms were just cool
lagoon liquid, tainted with
violent death from the

hungry fields where troops
gathered to fight for her love.
Oh, Helen of Troy!

Thus in Ilium
of old, topless in towers,
flaunting her pale haunch,

Helen misspent the
golden hours and caused a
thousand ships to launch.

LoL! That is so funny, M.

“Helen,” Faustus could
not but chortle, “a kiss would
make me immortal.”

M wrote: "Thank you! I can’t believe it. I feel like I’m dreaming. All I can think is that they must have had a really bad month."

When I went to vote, you were leading!!!! Yippeee.