A sailor woke and listened for the speech
of crushing crests; of wind and waves’ unrest
but it was eerie silent, dead as on the beach
a shroud of death had spread its blackness on
the esker’s graveled shore; this night the sea,
had soiled the sand with grease and oil, upon
the ocean-corpse his broken boat; no word
could hold the sorrow as he lost his breath
to kelp-wrapped seals and gasps of dying birds.
He stood there waiting for a harbinger or way
He searched for signals in the scents or sound
He waited until noon when from the horrid bay
a sudden gust carried a remembrance, sung
by sea-glassed youth from her; a lover’s lips;
sounds once tossed from her, his vessel’s tongue.
I watched the Bergman movie “the seventh seal” again the other night and thought about death and shores. The words and rhymes in Laura’s prompt at dVerse taken from Raymond Garlick’s poem “Welsh-Speaking Sea”, but I turned the poem into a dead sea instead…
I treated the prompt as a Bouts-Rimés with fifteen lines.
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March 17, 2020
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Absolutely love this poem- a very original re-working of Garlick’s sea – it reads as smoothly as an oil slick!
[Nicely illustrated with the Seventh Seal – sad that Max von Sydow has met the grim reaper finally]
Brilliant write, Björn, and well illustrated with the Sill from the Seventh Seal….
I like the sound of “soil” and “oil” in this line: “had soiled the sand with grease and oil, upon”
Well done, Björn, for using all the word sets in the original order and creating a dark tale of a sailor and the sea. I love the way you’ve used sounds, such as alliteration and internal rhyme in ‘the speech of crushing crests;’ ‘soiled the sand with grease and oil’, and ‘gasps of dying birds’. I also like the compound noun ‘ocean-corpse’ and the adjectives ‘kelp-wrapped’ and ‘sea-glassed’.
We should do a rime-bouté sometimes.
Good idea!
A sea shanty indeed, only missing black sails and clanging swords, or harpoons and killer whales. I liked the line /upon the ocean-corpse his broken boat/. Puts me in mind of Elton John: “There’s a boat on the reef with a broken back. I can see it very well.”
Hauntingly beautiful. Love that final tercet.
Perfect title with a vision never hoped to be seen.
Well done, Björn.
It’s sad to think of sea dying but your word kennings are brilliant!
a great rendition of our current disregard for our environment, you are versatile Bjorn!
Well-crafted! You managed to expand the concept further.
Amazing story unflds here and speaks the truth of life.
There’s an apocalyptic feel to this.
“the esker’s graveled shore” is a brilliant phrase … among others … As always, Bjorn, a great write.
I love the pause in the 4th verse. Great juxtaposition of sounds. (K)
I am standing here clapping- Bravo Bjorn!
A skillful job of making a story of the prompt words.Well done.
Great use of all the choices here, and penning a smooth-flowing, beautiful poem.