Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Write at the Merge: Safe in the Arms of the Sea

I know the jagged rocks exist, though I no longer have an affinity for danger. These days, I am master of my ship.  I chart my own course.  Keep to the deep water. 

I can see him clearly now-more clearly than the day I met him, and I realize he was akin to a brigantine, recklessly sailed and doomed to flounder.  Raven hair, worn long and wild, and eyes that changed color with the changing tides of his moods.  Sometimes falcon, and sometimes dove. An impossibly irresistible, unholy trinity of leather and rum and tobacco.

My pirate.

Part tempest, and part gentleman, I tried in vain to learn the art of forecasting the weather that swirled around him.  At times he brandished words like a razor sharp cutlass, warning me to keep my distance.  Other times, though, when the winds were fair, he beckoned me closer with roses and his own brand of sugar, the sweetest I’d ever tasted.  He even slid a promise of pearl and silver onto my ring finger, and asked me to wait for him while he was away, prowling the vast ocean in a hunt for other ships to plunder.

He never returned. 

I realize it now.  His misfortune was my salvation.

The rocks are still there-only instead of tormenting me, I find my ears are deaf to their siren song.  And as for the rigging that threatened to ensnare me on that doomed voyage so long ago, like the gossamer strands in a spider’s web.  I see them for what they have become.

Cobwebs.

 

writing prompt 

For this week, your inspiration comes from two words (you are not required to use these words, though you may):

Gossamer: noun; a fine, filmy substance consisting of cobwebs spun by small spiders, which is seen esp. in autumn.

Affinity: noun; ( pl. affinities ) (often affinity between/for/with) a spontaneous or natural liking or sympathy for someone or something: he has an affinity for the music of Berlioz.

Gossamer Affinity

14 comments:

  1. I love the comparison to a brigantine. Such an elegant ship, but a dashing one, too.

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  2. Oooh, so good! Love how you took the inspiration and wrote that story. I really enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing :)

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  3. Isn't Gossamer the name of that huge orange monster on bugs Bunny?

    Love how you pulled these words together in your story. It's beautiful!

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  4. hi Valerie! Nicely done. Hey, did you know I write poetry. See my page at the top of my post, just under the banner that says "my poems" and see if you dig my literary style.

    I dig yours.

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  5. Valerie you are such a talented writer I was loving every sentence. B

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  6. Oh, when you write like this, it is so much fun to read. I read this aloud, which it what I like to do with writings. It allows me to hear and feel the motion of the words.

    Your words flowed and danced together in a perfect rhythm:~)








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  7. Now this, this was breath-taking. Well done!

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  8. I agree, just breath takings, her sadness and strength, him, oh. the smell and feel of her pirate.
    "Sometimes falcon, and sometimes dove."

    Really wonderful Valerie!

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  9. So very well done! You capture how entrancing he was, yet how clearly now she can tell their love wasn't the right thing for her.
    ~Angela

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  10. Really lovely all the way through, and perfect ending. Well done.

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  11. Valerie dear! Thank you for your nice words regarding my poetry. Awh, you made my day!!!!!!

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  12. This is a lovely piece. I love "forecasting the weather that swirled around him"--wow! And the way you kept the emotional language on the topic of all things seafaring. Very, very well done.

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