Kraken
NOTE: This poem is in my chapbook, Raven Feathers. If you like what you’ve read and you want to purchase the chapbook, visit the Raven’s Wing Press page for more details.
This was inspired by a poem on David Pitchford’s blog entitled “Swimmer” and a response written by Mother2Rah entitled “Tread Water”. I decided to take a crack at it (no pun intended) from the Kraken’s point of view. I would suggest you read their poems first before reading “Kraken”.
Before y’all say something, I am aware this is not in Chaucerian roundel style, as per my experiment for this week. You will see a post tonight, wrapping up the details of my experiment.
-Nicole
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KRAKEN
Once a woman of flesh and bone,
Now doomed to wander the seas alone
Looking for my next meal -
I steal
Creatures of every kind:
Dogs
Cattle
Fish
And even -
And especially -
Men and women
And ingest them into the deep crevice
They call a gut.
But
I was once as fair as that woman
Who I spied today, lashed to a cold rock,
Waiting to be engulfed into nothingness –
But a curse claimed my looks
And I became a monster
Long before this world began.
I swam
Towards the woman,
Who still pulling against her chains,
Her tears mixing with the cold rain,
Was still alive (I usually like my meals warm);
But before I could wrap my tentacles around her
And rejoice at finding my lunch,
She was stolen away by another,
A man whose heart was bowed toward her
By reason of her tears and chains.
Defeated, I swam away -
Sulked away -
Still hungry and
Still holding burning jealous torches in my bosom
For the beauty I once had.
Written 5/16/08
©2008 Nicole Nicholson. All Rights Reserved.
Pretty cool - I like it. Thanks for taking the other [the dark ;^)] side.
Siobhan aka mother2rah
It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it.
Seriously though…thanks for reading, Siobhan.
-Nicole
I really like the correlations between the monster’s loss of humainity and the overwhelming jealousy. I came away with the feel of the kraken’s fatal flaw to be envy - which would fit the kraken into the myth somewhere between the jealous goddess and the boasting queen . . . Fascinating. I think it’s high time they came out with a remake for that movie . . . can’t believe I’m blanking on the title.
Clash of the Titans…? I saw that again on TV a couple of years ago. Oddly enough, though, when I looked for info about the Kraken on Google to get a sense of where to write from, I found that its origins are not well known, it’s a recent addition to the story and from what I understand doesn’t originate with the Greeks necessarily. So I kinda had to let my imagination go with this one, and I kinda took a “Medusa” viewpoint with it…the monster who was long ago a beautiful woman but changed by a curse. It’s an old story and I think it’s been told in every culture.
Anyway, thank you for dropping by and leaving your comment. Maybe we’ll have to do this again.
-Nicole