Tiger Slug
I couldn't resist...101 words on the Tiger Slug (see previous post).
We dangle. For this instant I am she and you are he. A thread of slime anchors us to a leaf like spittle. We perform the act. Part of you into part of me - and vice versa. My eggs. Your eggs. Each clutch awash with a little of something foreign.
Then we drop, but before we do I lunge forward. Like me you lack vocal chords but if you had a voice it would now be higher. A little more of you in me than you planned. A snack. A tasty morsel. He, she. No matter. Now you are neither.
We dangle. For this instant I am she and you are he. A thread of slime anchors us to a leaf like spittle. We perform the act. Part of you into part of me - and vice versa. My eggs. Your eggs. Each clutch awash with a little of something foreign.
Then we drop, but before we do I lunge forward. Like me you lack vocal chords but if you had a voice it would now be higher. A little more of you in me than you planned. A snack. A tasty morsel. He, she. No matter. Now you are neither.
posted by Clare Dudman at 11:32 am
8 Comments:
That's great! Reminds me of the well know poem by William Blake:
"Tyger! Tyger! turning white
Robbed of sluggardly delights,
What unholy jaws contrived
To rob thee of thy symmetry?"
Eating in the Happy Mollusc Restaurant and in the Mood for Something Different.
I ordered the sestina of tiger slug genitals.
The waiter advised me as to the basic etiquette. He told me "There are thirty nine steps to slug genitalia heaven. Step one, you eat the first six slivers in any order you choose. Step two, you eat the next six in a predetermined order based upon your original selection. Steps three to six, repeat. Finally, devour the last three in the same order as the previous last three. And that certainly will taste like slug genitalia heaven to you."
Selecting my first six, I started to munch them in sequence. Pure poetry!
Hi Clare,
How about these motherly worms?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4904580.stm
- montmorency
Jonathan: Ha, very good - robbing thee of thy symmetry - I like it.
Ghez Hu: Excellent stuff and very clever. Thank you. I have been sniggering about this one ever since I saw it.
Montmorency! So good to hear from you again. Thank you for the link. Facinating stuff - and crying out for a 101 word story, but I must resist, resist....
ghez hu...
OK, I'm guessing... it's Paul Muldoon again isn't it?
Or is that Pul Umdoon? (the slugs of course...)
Jonathan,
Nice subtle half-rhymes to use in lines three and five of the second stanza.
Best to avoid enjambement, though.
Enjambement and genitalia don't really mix.
Thanks Ghez Hu - whoever you are...
I found this post via a Google search. I made sure to link to it on my blog as I just posted about tiger slugs courting on my patio. :)
http://themagicalmundane.blogspot.com/2009/07/slug-love.html
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