The Magic of Merfolk, Sirens & Water Nymphs

For those of us who want to have something to relax with, visually & poetically creative-wise, with all the news madness ongoing all around many of us, I've offered you a variety a generous, sumptuous collection of images to become inspired & stimulated by.  Let everything else fall away, just for a while.

And this time, you'll have plenty of time to make your choice(s) and to ink your writes.  So let your imagination dive in, float leisurely, then join the gentle folk under the waves, to play, and love, and harmonize with the sirens. Here are the Guidelines/Rules:

1:  You Have Two Weeks.
2:  Up to Two Entries Per Person.
3:  Poetry only, no prose or prose poetry.
4:  New, and Not So New ink accepted.
5:  No Collaborations.
6:  TITLE YOUR INK, and be sure to...
7:  ADD the # OF PHOTO, or the PHOTO ITSELF that inspired you.
8:  Can be mild Erotica, but NO Extreme Content.
9:  Respect all, no abuse.
10: PM/note me with questions re: rules/entries.
11. Use competition thread for entries only.
12. Make me envious about your subject.  Make me wish I had written it, and enjoy yourselves!

I'll be starting things off with my own write as an example. --your host, Jade

Here's the collection to choose from; one image per entry (you can use the titles next to the #'s if you wish, or use a title of your own, either way, just make sure you include the # of the image you pick:

#1:  Bath
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20bath1%2000.png
#2:  Hold me TIGHT
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20embrace2%2000.png
#3:  Kin
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20kin%2000.png
#4:  Mer love
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20love3%2000.png
#5:  Mer lovers
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20lovers4%2000.png
#6:  Siren Moon
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20moon5%2000.png
#7:  Water nymph
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20nereid%20water%20nymph6%2000.png
#8:  Seashell siren
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/atlantis%2000_1.png
#9:  Selkie
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20selkie8%2000.png
#10: Shallows
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20shallows9%2000.png
#11: Magical mer
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20siren10%2000.png
#12: Merman
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/merman2%20revised%2000.png
#13: Mermaid & horse
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/merwoman%20and%20horse12%2000.png
#14: The siren & the nymph
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/underwater%20dance%20-%20mirrors%2000_1.png
#15: Beached
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20beached%2000.png
#16: The siren's dance
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20waternymph%20dance%2000.png

#15:  Beached
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20beached%2000.png
#15 - MER. (my example, not an entry)

His bare feet pad along the strand
of warm beach, on dazzling white sand,
kneeling now and then to gather shells
and take in a breeze of ocean smells.

Comes a moment when he isn’t sure,
in the brightness of the sun
on an endless sea of azure,
and lifts a hand to shade his eyes

while he tries to discern a figure
that lies, supine, at the edge alone,
where the breakers fade and die.
Upon approaching he looks down

at a young woman, a mere girl
perhaps, by the look of her breasts,
and is mesmerized at the
tiny bubbles of foam that caress

a fishtail of aquamarine
where human limbs ought to be.
Transfixed by this feminine pearl,
he longs for the world that delivers

to him this creature of Mer.
And thus she meets his gaze with hers
while he cries, overwhelmed and grateful.
Like the pull of the tide when a

spent wave coils around his feet.
He knows, in his heart, she feels him
as her fingers, like slender seaweed
slip away, beckoning, "Come in... come in".

#4 - Mer Love

Paramour

I'll bear witness with abated breath,
tremble with emotion in response
to the one with whom I'm entranced.
Beauty well kept, revealed to me,
statuesque goddess of my dreams,
made real by grace of the beyond.

Paramour, my inamorata,
nobody else, only you,
with whom I'll be.

Eyes of green, soul more incredible,
windows to depths I'd readily plunge,
to swim in the seas of one I love so.
A smile that envelopes me whole,
blinding me, I see nothing else
and this enough for the rest of days.

Paramour, my inamorata,
nobody else, only you,
with whom I'll be.

I may be dreaming, nothing else,
only witness a lovely phantom,
hold close to me paramour.
Divine's presence in this place.
Nowhere else I'd rather be,
here with woman of fondest dreams.

Paramour, my inamorata,
nobody else, only you,
with whom I'll be.
Sonata of a soul lost,
paramour, paramour.

15 Beached

         fall for a poet

swim through the sky
through the
 vast masted atlas
 of clouds

to alight upon enchantment
an island of laconic romance
that hovers far away
from every known thing

you have wished us alone
alone in the uni-verse
caress me as I’ve never been
how close can I hold you?

defiant we are, under heaven’s crush
woman of sorrow’s song, afar
beguiled by trouble’s eyes -
haggard drifter, who clutched a star

forlorn & constant
in our lonely place
caprice dares us to seek
our forever in a moment

be brief, my Love

we only have a moment…

Pic 3#
http://t01.deviantart.net/1cMtOaXE5L3IUZH0o6Nwd1pp0K4=/300x200/filters:fixed_height(100,100):origin()/pre04/12af/th/pre/i/2011/233/f/3/kinship_by_kattnboys-d47dbi8.jpg

I, Dryad-a lamentation

I see thee in thy pleasing garb
of the sea they came wrappan thee
that thou be unseen to me
O’ that it is so,
I beg mercy to blind me

Dost thou see me
discern my figure as I stand poised
under the willow tree
long hath I cried for thee
as drooped the willow leaves
are as I bowed to the gods
for thy return

My sister, ah! thou be kin
to me and mine
betrayals, o thou twisted
the knife to the hilt
from our kinfolks
of the Oaks and trees
dryads, beloved of the druids
thou acquired the fellows
of fishes

For a man, nay, a half man
not of human, nor fish
thou hath bid farewell
to all thy kin, thy fellows
thy calls left the thread
of our songs, in the forests
humans call magical

‘twas our domain
our kingdom
for leaving spirits such as thee
will fade the ancient ones away

I, uncertain of my misfortune
with the gods and goddesses  
may traverse, dale and vale
where the moonbeams glow
to sleep and dream of what may

While thou and thine
slumber in the deep and frolick
in sunbathed shores.

#6 Siren Moon


Lunar Lament


below the rolling waters
neath shadows
beyond shallows
where man cannot wander
I raise my eyes
lost in her beauty
untouched
and so serene
as the tide paints her
aqua tinted crystalline
she, my true mistress
calls me in the night
and though I rise
to greet her
I cannot break the tide
for she does hang
so far above
and I live here
in the deep
can never reach her
touch her pearly face
caress her
with my love
each night
I gaze at her
and I cry
for I'm a daughter
of the water
and she rules
in the sky

poetryaccident said:#4 - Mer Love
Paramour
Thank you, poetryaccident, welcome on board, for kicking off with your contribution to the competition!

And you have the chance to submit one more entry before the challenge deadline.  --Jade

JohnFeddeler said:15 Beached

         fall for a poet

Most grateful and thank you, John, to receive your entry to keep the momentum going here at the start of the competition!

And you have the chance to submit one more entry before the challenge deadline.  Can I tempt you?  --Jade

Anonymous said:<< post removed >>
Dear Melia, I'm glad to see you've paired your poem with this wonderful image!  Thank you so much for joining in and gifting the competition with your entry!

And you have the chance to submit one more entry before the challenge deadline.  --Jade

Grace said:Pic 3#
I, Dryad-a lamentation

Dear Grace... It's an honor to have you with the competition with your entry's imagery rendition!  And you still have another entry ticket to spend if you wish to submit another before the challenge deadline.    --Jade

WillowsWhimsies said:#6 Siren Moon
Lunar Lament

Thank you, lovely Willow, for sharing your expression of the imagery you've picked in the entry you've contributed!

And you have the chance to submit one more entry before the challenge deadline. --Jade

Pic 16#

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/mer%20waternymph%20dance%2000.png
Dream dance a Drowning

Dance my dream where passion draws
harmony within the languid waves
graceful in my deep slumber
lithesome in my bid to wakefulness
there within the blueness
I pirouette in liquid abandon

I heed no dance of life
no passion to breathe
above the blue liquid ceiling
to dance on blazing prairie fire
or burn the twilight sky
with willful carnal desire

I descend to sand and corals
on the blue deep kingdom
the sunken city of Lemuria
busy in its daily chores
Inhabitants cleaning sands of debris
from bubbled and domed enclaves

Here I know no pain
but live a life, to laugh and love
be alive and well in dreams
be it more joyous than above
or less coloured in wistful wishes
death had sealed and forgotten me.

Grace said:Pic 16#
Dream dance a Drowning

Our dear Grace, yet another gift from you borne of the sea... now with your two entries to adorne this comp thread.  With my thanks!  
--Jade

#3 Kin

Sea Dreamer

Chrysanthemum dreams float lazily
In seas of rolling indigo
Where mermaids of fantasy frolic
Splashing love through warm waves

Golden breasted sea maiden
Sparkles in prismatic colors
Plays with porpoises
In the dark iron ocean

Her periwinkle nipples
Pink with sunset hue
My gaze lost in her raven locks
Wet with salty desire

Wine dark waters foam in crests
Spraying lash hooded aqua-woman
Whose black tresses shimmer in twilight red
My mind surfaces like a dolphin
Awash in maritime myth