Floating Phrases

Most days
I am a jellyfish
Trailing tentacles
Trying to trap
Tidbits, phrases
That feed my soul
Currents frequently
Curtail
My efforts
Sweeping a tasty verb
Or adjective
Into the depths
And in the Euphotic zone
We live for the light
While
Wishing for
A taste of
Something deeper

This is offered for Poetry Pantry at Poets United poetryblogroll.blogspot.com. This image of a jellyfish capturing words with its tentacles has been rolling around my mind all week.  Feels good to finally release it :-).   The Euphotic zone is the part of the ocean where most of the creatures live, warm and well lit. Like my poetic voice which is usually light, yet intrigued by the darkness...

Be Your Own Starch, or Madlibs In The Treez (An Oulipo)

If a Palo front waves
Will young bucks wave back?
Or just nod at
Wawaskeesh slapping their palominos
On the sandarac
There's a gralloch of tuxilline
In the seal
And weakfish rarely see ita
Spending timid wishing on starch
But its timid to be your own starch
Light your own pathogen through
The trefs
And remember to wave
At palominos on the Wayne
(Evictees need a front)

This is offered for Victoria's prompt at dVersePoets dVersePoets.com to write an Oulipo. You take an existing poem and for every noun you replace it with a noun that is the 7th noun next in the dictionary. I've been writing and nothing has really jelled, so this is a good way to play.  :-). Happy weekend!!

Here's the definitions:

Palo (a town in Iowa)
Wawaskeesh (Indian name)
Sandarac (resin from a North African tree, genus Tetraclinus)
Gralloch (entrails of a dead deer--erk!)
Truxilline (alkaloid in cocoa)
Weakfish (any fish that has a tender mouth in North America)
Ita (a palm tree)
Tref (a hamlet in Britain from the pre-Saxon era)
Wayne ( occupational surname for a cartwright, cart builder)
Evictees (people who have been forced to leave their home)
Palominos (horses with golden colored coat on their bodies and a creamy mane and tail)