The Selkie sings a lonely song
out past the beach the whole night long
beneath the waves she does belong
the moonlights call is far too strong
she'll dance beneath the swells.
she'll rise again and shed her form
a brown eyed beauty she's reborn
on two pale legs she'll dare the storm
to visit humans soft and warm
she'll dance within their dreams.
with hair so silky, soft as fur
a rocking motion slow and pure
riding the waves of high pleasure
and headed straight for sweet rapture
she'll dance in his embrace.
rising early her heart alight
time to leave, can't be polite
blue sky calls out an end to night
run down the sand dark cloak in sight
she'll dance within her skin.
she'll race the dawn to waters edge
stand out upon a rocky ledge
among the high-grown grassy sedge
back to the sea her heart she'll pledge
she'll dance falling through sky.
returning to her one true home
an endless blue playground to roam
to swim with fish beneath the dome
of sky and wave and ocean foam
she'll dance in greatest joy.
and if she's feeling down again
she'll walk about the world of men
and spend the night in human den
and if she's very careful then
she'll dance back to the surf.
Author notes
Selkies are seals that can turn into humans by taking off their skins. They are very gentle creatures but also they are very sexual in nature, especially the males. They also have to be careful to hide their skins because if a human were to find the skin and hide it the selkie would be unable to return to his/her form. for more info on Selkies:
www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/selkiefolk/
Written September 20th, 2005
*for contest* "Lies"
In a list
A contest entry
- Raven Qualifier - Romance: Love, Fantasy and Passion by Raven Contest.
450 points, ended May 11, 117 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Olde Worlde Legends by Cynthia Gaines.
1000 points, ended August 25, 2007, 16 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 17 of 17
-
oh, I was so pleased to find another poem about selkies as it has been a very long time since my 20th (and most favorite ever) contest on Selkies. I learned so much about them then and ended up putting the two top winners to music. This also has a very lyrical quality and would be a lovely song. I especially loved the 2nd and 3rd stanzas - well done! Also the artwork is unusual and enjoyable. Thank you.
-
Very nice poem. It was an interesting read, and although I'm not talking about this poem, in the future when you write on folkloric creatures, I always find it is more interesting if you put them in a story telling context, although this was very nice too.
Thank you for entering I'm glad to see you made a lot of effort when writing this poem.
-
Brilliant
I had heard of Selkies, but wasn't familiar with the actual mythology of them. Thank you for sharing, and for doing it so artistically. Very well done. Best of luck.
-
rising early her heart alight
time to leave, can't be polite
blue sky calls out an end to night
run down the sand dark cloak in sight
she'll dance within her skin.
This stems an array of images and weaves a tale of fancy, it was a pleasure to read.
-
this is an amazingly written piece. i loved it. it was very different from all the others. this was a pleasure to read
good luck to you
~lostelvenchild
-
A beautifully written treasure!
Very good rhyme and great use of metaphor! I enjoyed reading this poem very much!! Good luck in the contest!!! Peace, Cyn 
-
This is a tale of things from long ago, and their history you have done wonders with to show the modern man all of this
-
This is a beautiful tale of selkies and one I'm sure many readers will enjoy. The rhyme and rythm found in the piece are very good, though I feel the addition of commas in some sentences where the line is broken in speach such as "a brown eyed beauty, she's reborn" would aid the flow a little.
Thank you for entering the Raven contest 2007
Northern Raven -
a very beautiful write this is from you. i had never heard of a selkie until now. what an education you have given me through this write. one thing, and it is about form and not content, is the inconsistency with capitalization intentional? just curious and it has no bearing on the judging. thank you for entering this raven qualifier and i wish you the best of luck in this contest. viyanna rosemarie
-
First off applauds to this poem! I liked it very much. I think that the first stanza draws attention real nicely but the last line of the first stanza to me seems a little wierd. It feels either a wierd place to stop or like there should be another line after it...or a . or something...
Ok...for the second stanza...
She'll rise again and shed her form
a brown eyed beauty she's reborn
on two pale legs she'll dare the storm
to visit humans soft and warm
she'll dance within their dreams.
I think you might want to try adding some punctuation marks in here...maybe a . after rebord...i think it would sound good there.
The first two lines in the third stanza are really good...i like the flow to them...the third and fourth lines however seem to break the flow a little.
My favorite two lines from the fourth stanza are
blue sky calls out an end to night
run down the sand dark cloak in sight
The fifth stanza has a great rhym and flow to it until the last line which stops the flow.
The fifth stanza...is my favorite. Real nice job with this one!
And again ... nice job with the sixth stanza.
Overall very nice poem! and defenitly worth an applaude! And thank you for entering my contest! -
It seems like Selkies are catchy!!! I wrote one as well. I liked your rendetion very much...Eric
-
Wow! spookey. I wrote a Selkie poem a couple of days ago too!
Good luck with this one.
-
This is great, rhyming four lines in every stanza is hard to do. Very well worded, good work.
-
I'll be honest, I had to look up what a selkie was. I figured it was some mermaid like thing. Anyway, I don't see anything wrong with that line as it is, but if you're looking for something else, I'd suggest the word "dredge" as the rhyme, because it fits with the subject so well.
-
great
hey this poem is great i can feel the emotions pouring of the page when i read this very well done
was very strong and very well structured and great use of words well done keep it up mate
+wellsy+
+purity+ -
Oh great poem! I loved it. Thank you very much for entering out contest and good luck.
-
hehe i like this poem it has alot of emotion...*i looove strong emotions within poems
* and it seems that she is always dancing and it made the poem enjoyable also, good luck in the contest
Adding your comment:
1 - 17 of 17
