Aquatic Nocturne
deep in liquid turquoise slivers of dilute light quiver in thin streaks of bright tinfoil on mobile jet: pale flounder waver by tilting silver: in the shallows agile minnows flicker gilt: grapeblue mussels dilate lithe and pliant valves: dull lunar globes of blubous jellyfish glow milkgreen: eels twirl in wily spirals on elusive tails: adroir lobsters amble darkly olive on shrewd claws: down where sound comes blunt and wan like the bronze tone of a sunken gong.
Aquatic Nocturne - meaning Summary
Submerged Observation in Motion
The poem offers a close, sensory portrait of a nocturnal underwater scene. It catalogs shimmering light, colored creatures and small motions—flounder, minnows, jellyfish, eels, lobsters—rendered in jewel-like detail. The language emphasizes muted sound and liquid distance, culminating in a final image likening submerged noise to a "sunken gong," which reinforces the poem’s calm, otherworldly atmosphere and the separation between viewer and ocean depths.
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