“Holy shit, that thing is huge,” I said when I first saw it. I had never seen ice like that before and I had so many questions. I wondered where it had been and, if it could speak, what it would tell me about its existence and what it had experienced along the way. I wondered what secrets might exist inside of it, locked away in frozen, timeless silence. Then I emerged from my brief reverie and said to no one in particular, “I’m going to need a bigger glass.”
i was imagining the world after global warming...the collapse od society... evolution of giant scorpions... new ice age and ice bergs beginning to appear for the first time.... possibly a bit tenuous
Nope, it's good! I'm just a mite slow on the uptake. 😂 I like the optimism, I tend to think that the world will eventually heal itself, though I suspect the human race is headed for a hard reset... hopefully we'll get a second chance and - even more hopefully - won't mess up as badly as we're doing this time around.
It's hard when most of your attributes go unnoticed, when people think you aren't that important. That's when you have to do something to get noticed. Just sitting around looking cool doesn't work.
With a shove you put yourself be in their way. That will teach them to believe they are impenetrable to your charms.
They crash into you as you'd hoped. You cause disaster. Alter lives forever.
But then they forget all about you. You are just one of many and eventually you sink into oblivion.
The last one was to sketch the heritage buildings. It’s the peak of summer and he had no intention of sitting out there for hours. He was ready to fail this one but not without a hint of humour.
When he handed over his paper, his teacher drew a blank.
‘Miss, it’s like the iceberg. We’ve only seen the top.’
Instead of the artistic pillars, carved stone walls and outdoor statues, he’d only sketched the big bell on the top of one building.
The talking stopped as they regarded him quietly, patiently.
Words came to him, tiny slivers of his early life that might, he hoped, provide some flavour and a soupcon of sympathy, if not outright empathy.
A few nods of recognition- a woman’s frown of vicarious maternal caring.
He paused after his story, letting the silence increase the tension, their attention that his poems needed to be heard beyond the surface crafting of phrasing, rhyming, and rhythm so that what lay beneath would be heard.
Cheers Nick! This one sits more on the prose poem side of the fence, so leaning more into the figurative and the metaphorical, but essentially I was thinking of a man, desperately in love with a woman, being led (blindly/willingly?) to his demise, wrapped up in the metaphor of the iceberg - but I also linked the couple to Odysseus and Calypso, because 1) it adds another layer of complexity (for free) and 2) I have been indulging in Greek Myth lately and I love it - thanks for the comment as always!
Your tears formed from the juice of the apple you ate. The apple grew last summer, on a tree that drank of groundwater from the meltwater of the past winter's snows. The snow precipitated from mists blown in from the sea. The mists evaporated from a melting iceberg. The iceberg was born of a monstrous glacier breaking up, sliding into the ocean. When your tears fall to the ground, they join the watery adventure as they travel to the great ice caps and then on to the liquid magic of life.
They sat at the poker table, only the top halves of their bodies showing. Torsos floating on a sea of green.
Like icebergs, no one could truly see their depth or how they had got to where they were. Debt. Desperation. The need to escape poverty. Or, worst of all, boredom.
The river turned. The chips were pushed in. And then one drifted into the night. Surviving. Triumphant. The others sank further into the water.
It’s not strange. The world is full of truths that only reveal themselves under the rarest circumstance. Of course he would fight like a wounded bull. Hin-pak-en-wah was disappointed.
The Haida people had an established survival tradition for events like this. Circumstances like a sunken whaling ship and a small surviving crew on a raft unsuited for waters this deep. Brothers could not eat brothers. They knew how to fairly draw straw, but the loser still had the life to make a final stand. This exhaustion made Hin-pak very angry.
Full disclaimer that was a fictional reach. I know of the Haida from a video game, they are real and from the Alaska area, I don’t know if they hunted whale or not but maybe. I heard about the whaling cannibal maritime protocol and thought maybe these guys could have done something similar. I think one instance of those stories inspired Moby Dick. What I did learn about just a day or two ago was this crazy painting. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa
James knew the dangers of the coastline of Greenland. As a scientist, he would core through the centuries of ice deposits and bring them back. He docked his boat at Iceberg Alpha716 alone. His partner was ill that day.
Reaching the top, he pulled his core bore machine up. The drilling had just begun when a rumble was felt underfoot. His fall was broken by landing on something soft, rug like. His happy good fortune was literally short-lived, as this “rug” was worn by a hungry polar bear.
My 90 mg of an Iceberg
________________________
Like a floating ghost,
a dazzling white
that serves as a home
to the beginnings of the Universe,
this mountain
slowly creeps up,
in a strange stillness,
like someone meditating,
moving through a sea of foam
towards its destination
in the hope of finding
other floating white mountains
to make love to,
and their children
will be called Life and Death,
Universe, Cosmos and Chaos,
until one day
melted with heat and fatigue,
your journey will end
in waves, waterfalls
and soft shimmering water
from which you can drink life
___________________________-
Rolando Andrade
“Holy shit, that thing is huge,” I said when I first saw it. I had never seen ice like that before and I had so many questions. I wondered where it had been and, if it could speak, what it would tell me about its existence and what it had experienced along the way. I wondered what secrets might exist inside of it, locked away in frozen, timeless silence. Then I emerged from my brief reverie and said to no one in particular, “I’m going to need a bigger glass.”
Thanks for joining in Rhumond!
PROMPT: ICEBERG
THE ICEBERGS
They were huge blocks of ice.
Floating right in front of us.
Basically, icebergs.
Sitting there taunting us, knowing there was nothing we could do about them.
Because they’d clearly been put in our cups to make sure we got a lot less of our drinks than we’d paid for… 🥶😎🥶
Lmao 😂😂 That is so real.
Haha! It really is shocking how much drink you lose some places because of it. That's why I usually ask for no ice, if possible... 😎👍
15300 AD
They paddled their scorpion carapace kayaks close to the huge white thing floating in the sea.
“What is it?” asked Hopli
“I don’t know,” replied Peet “I’ve never seen a rock that can swim.”
They paddled closer until their kayaks scraped the side of it.
“Its cold! Like the sky ice!” said Hopli, who reached out to touch it.
“The north tribes talk of the coming of the white mountains, but this is in the sea…”
“Look!” shouted Hopli “There – to the north – another!”
The first iceberg! Very cool.
no... its 13000 years in the future...
Oops, I missed the "AD" - so icebergs are newly discovered.... still cool!
i was imagining the world after global warming...the collapse od society... evolution of giant scorpions... new ice age and ice bergs beginning to appear for the first time.... possibly a bit tenuous
Nope, it's good! I'm just a mite slow on the uptake. 😂 I like the optimism, I tend to think that the world will eventually heal itself, though I suspect the human race is headed for a hard reset... hopefully we'll get a second chance and - even more hopefully - won't mess up as badly as we're doing this time around.
You're real name is ....
It's hard when most of your attributes go unnoticed, when people think you aren't that important. That's when you have to do something to get noticed. Just sitting around looking cool doesn't work.
With a shove you put yourself be in their way. That will teach them to believe they are impenetrable to your charms.
They crash into you as you'd hoped. You cause disaster. Alter lives forever.
But then they forget all about you. You are just one of many and eventually you sink into oblivion.
I like this take a lot, very powerful Diane!
Thank you :)
I really like this take, its like the origin story of your classic school bully, laced with empathy.
Ouch …
Yeah, some partners in life are like that.
💛
Microdosing - 90mg of an Iceberg
===
The drawing assignments gave him anxiety weekly.
The last one was to sketch the heritage buildings. It’s the peak of summer and he had no intention of sitting out there for hours. He was ready to fail this one but not without a hint of humour.
When he handed over his paper, his teacher drew a blank.
‘Miss, it’s like the iceberg. We’ve only seen the top.’
Instead of the artistic pillars, carved stone walls and outdoor statues, he’d only sketched the big bell on the top of one building.
Haha clever. The teacher should let him pass if the bell was drawn well :D
Agree, I think it would be a good drawing as he could 'focus' only on the bell....:D
I'd give him an "A" for cleverness! 😂
Agree! Teachers should encourage out-of-the-box thinking....:)
love the imagery!
Thank you!
The talking stopped as they regarded him quietly, patiently.
Words came to him, tiny slivers of his early life that might, he hoped, provide some flavour and a soupcon of sympathy, if not outright empathy.
A few nods of recognition- a woman’s frown of vicarious maternal caring.
He paused after his story, letting the silence increase the tension, their attention that his poems needed to be heard beyond the surface crafting of phrasing, rhyming, and rhythm so that what lay beneath would be heard.
His poetry was an oral iceberg.
That’s an awesome take Matthew! I like it.
“I see you now, but only what you choose to show me.”
Tracing a course that sloped and curved impossibly back in on itself, he mapped the golden ratio, praising divine proportion.
Immortality?
Outside, the silver swarm of the floodlit blizzard rattled against steel window frames.
She whispered; falling water:
“What course, choose you, helmsman?”
Dust drifting on golden strands, beached upon the small of her back like jetsam, strands of hair falling over her face.
Careful . . . she conceals more than the colour of her eyes.
“Full steam ahead . . . Calypso.”
this is beautiful. still waiting for the image to form of what you are telling us here. but im not sure it will.
Cheers Nick! This one sits more on the prose poem side of the fence, so leaning more into the figurative and the metaphorical, but essentially I was thinking of a man, desperately in love with a woman, being led (blindly/willingly?) to his demise, wrapped up in the metaphor of the iceberg - but I also linked the couple to Odysseus and Calypso, because 1) it adds another layer of complexity (for free) and 2) I have been indulging in Greek Myth lately and I love it - thanks for the comment as always!
I love this!
Thanks Jeannine!
Your tears formed from the juice of the apple you ate. The apple grew last summer, on a tree that drank of groundwater from the meltwater of the past winter's snows. The snow precipitated from mists blown in from the sea. The mists evaporated from a melting iceberg. The iceberg was born of a monstrous glacier breaking up, sliding into the ocean. When your tears fall to the ground, they join the watery adventure as they travel to the great ice caps and then on to the liquid magic of life.
This is brilliant!
Thank you.
I love this one Jeannine! Very clever take
Thank you!
Amazing! The journey of water. That's such a great interpretation... 😎
Thank you! I love the way these prompts force my brain to think. 😊
Epic!
Thank you!
Uyy! :'(
They sat at the poker table, only the top halves of their bodies showing. Torsos floating on a sea of green.
Like icebergs, no one could truly see their depth or how they had got to where they were. Debt. Desperation. The need to escape poverty. Or, worst of all, boredom.
The river turned. The chips were pushed in. And then one drifted into the night. Surviving. Triumphant. The others sank further into the water.
Wow!
Thanks!
Nick’s story is rightly singled out. Beautiful use of continuing metaphoric imagaes in service to the story and characters.
Thanks Sandy! Really appreciate the comment 🤗
That is phenomenal Nick! I absolutely love that.
Thank you🤗
thats great!
Brilliant!
Thanks!
Outstanding
Cheers!
Another sad but good one...
Iceberg 90mg
It’s not strange. The world is full of truths that only reveal themselves under the rarest circumstance. Of course he would fight like a wounded bull. Hin-pak-en-wah was disappointed.
The Haida people had an established survival tradition for events like this. Circumstances like a sunken whaling ship and a small surviving crew on a raft unsuited for waters this deep. Brothers could not eat brothers. They knew how to fairly draw straw, but the loser still had the life to make a final stand. This exhaustion made Hin-pak very angry.
I love when these tales teach me something! Never heard of Haida people. Super cool stuff.
Full disclaimer that was a fictional reach. I know of the Haida from a video game, they are real and from the Alaska area, I don’t know if they hunted whale or not but maybe. I heard about the whaling cannibal maritime protocol and thought maybe these guys could have done something similar. I think one instance of those stories inspired Moby Dick. What I did learn about just a day or two ago was this crazy painting. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa
The Shaggy Berg
James knew the dangers of the coastline of Greenland. As a scientist, he would core through the centuries of ice deposits and bring them back. He docked his boat at Iceberg Alpha716 alone. His partner was ill that day.
Reaching the top, he pulled his core bore machine up. The drilling had just begun when a rumble was felt underfoot. His fall was broken by landing on something soft, rug like. His happy good fortune was literally short-lived, as this “rug” was worn by a hungry polar bear.
Farewell James
Haha. That made me chuckle Ken. Great stuff.