Beach

 Tide pools filled with bull heads (tiny fish)

that wiggled in her throat

when I talked my city cousin in to eating one.

On this rocky beach leaping one pool to the next 

searching for crabs or anything that moved 

the deep pools were the best.

Limpets hidden under Chinese hats

attached like barnacles to the rock

Starfish, snails and strange shelled creatures

Slippery squishy popping seaweed

Blowing loud through hollow kelp

Mimicking the fog horn and ships in harbour

signaling arrivals and departures.

Could have played all day there until dark

But the tide would rise. no surprise

We learned early to run for higher ground

And it was seldom anybody drowned.

Challenge: imagine the “music” of a place without people in it, try writing a poem that describes a place, particularly in terms of the animals, plants or other natural phenomena there. Sink into the sound of your location, and use a conversational tone. Incorporate slant rhymes (near or off-rhymes, like “angle” and “flamenco”) into your poem. And for an extra challenge – don’t reference birds or birdsong!