On this Flashback Friday we go March 26, 2013, when I learned of a magical thing called…
Firefly Squid
If, like I, you have never seen or heard of this before, let me introduce you to the marvel of it…
The Firefly Squid is a bioluminescent squid growing to a length of only three inches. The squid is equipped with special light-producing organs called photophores that emit a deep blue light. Large photophores can be found on the tips of the tentacles as well as around the eyes. Thousands of tiny photophores can be found throughout the squid’s body, giving it the ability to emit light along its entire form. In the Toyama Bay, in the central Japan Sea, the squid are found in fantastic abundance. Normally living at 1200 feet underwater, waves in the Toyama bay pushes the squid to the surface in massive numbers where they are fished by tons from March to June.
And as I stated back in 2013, I learn and/or am reminded of the wonders of this home terraform we call Earth. Regrettably, I have yet to make it to that side of the world, let alone to Toyama Beach just for this phenomenon. It remains someplace I would like to visit when, not if, WHEN, I visit Japan.
This Flash Back Friday where I revisit and share a post from the past on this day brings us to a poem I originally penned in 2013, “The Life”. It was written using the glosa poetry form where you take a stanza from another poet and use their lines to create a poem of your own. [There is a little more to it and you can read the rules here if interested: how to write a Glosa.] It is one of my favorite forms to use as I enjoy creating works that go in a different path from the source material.
My poem was based from the opening verse of the song “Moon Over Bourbon Street“, by Gordon Sumner. If the title seems familiar to some, but not the author’s name; it is because most of the world knows him by his stage name: Sting. Yes, that Sting, as in Sting and The Police.
There’s a moon over Bourbon Street tonight I see faces as they pass beneath the pale lamplight I’ve no choice but to follow that call The bright lights, the people, and the moon and all Gordon Sumner (Sting) / Moon Over Bourbon Street
Everyone seems to be in easy mode The corner’s quiet on this autumn’s eve Despite the first cuts of winter’s cold It’s happy smiles folks give and receive Setting a mood that makes me bold And my protector has me in his sight On the off chance all is not as should be And he may have to come rescue me But I know everything’s going to be all right There’s a moon over Bourbon Street tonight
Casting a cool light on this patch of street I start to flirt with some and have my say But walking in the sun is a different deceit The base rules change in the light of day I’m not acknowledged by all whom I meet I know they know who I am, as they nod so polite Those men pretending they don’t know my name And the wives who avert their head just the same Knowing their husbands are just faces in my night I see faces as they pass beneath the pale lamplight
Yes, I’m paid for the need of my company And more often than not, paid quite well I aim to please after all you see But I remember when things weren’t so swell At the beginning of this life for me Like babies, before I could run, I had to crawl Now I choose just how my night is spent But the truth of lies lay evident When my pockets hold no cash at all I’ve no choice but to follow that call
For all the company I have I am still alone And I watch time shorten the length of my employ I was young when I started and now I’m grown I slowly prepare for when I’m past giving joy But tonight, tonight my love’s my own On nights like this I’m standing ten feet tall Pretending I’m just like any other in the park Out on the town for another evening’s lark Just another guy walking in the leaves of fall The bright lights, the people, and the moon and all
The story goes that the inspiration for the song was reading Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. However, it was the haunting visual of a person walking alone at night under street lamps in the lyrics that took flight in my mind. This above poem was the result. No vampires in this night.
In yesterday’s slice I briefly mentioned how my being a little cheeky while on the phone is what made me memorable and saved me some grief when getting my first vaccination dose. When the guy I spoke to on the phone saw me in person, his expression was one I’ve seen often. The quickly hidden surprise that the intelligent and funny woman on the phone is one with purple hair, who wore a Sherlock Holmes tee-shirt, jeans and rainbow mandala printed combat boots, also had a melanin enriched complexion. While the back-handed assumption it conveys annoys me, I am also always amused at shaking that assumption on their part.
It made me happy to discover this particular piece is what came up as my Flashback Friday as it also shook an assumption. I remember the first time I posted this, I had taken a couple of the readers by surprise with the second to the last line. One reader admitted to having his preconceived stereotype of the storyteller’s gender ‘jolted’. I liked that. Did I catch you off guard with that reveal as well?
