Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Not For Jellyfish - 10thDoM RoM No Prompt (M0,C1)

Each "chapter" for the RoM Challenge will include prose as well as a simple song to accompany it. Yes, the songs are "original" to the extent that anything can be original these days and yes, the video will be of me singing it. Enjoy the journey...

Here are the chapters, in order:
Not For Jellyfish
Into The Deep
Reluctant Titans
Origami Heart
John Followed
Whale Tide
Beneath The Stars
Operatic Irony
Careful Wishes
Goodnight


Not For Jellyfish

The aqua colors, silvery lines crawling the ceiling, and general hum of the large cavern allowed her to be in a trance that couldn't be easily broken. She watched the large grey predators swim menacingly through the bright blue waters, completely unimpressed and feeling no awe or fear of the aquatic predator.

She wandered through the halls of exhibits, in her own world, completely unaware of the swarms of people brushing against her, ignoring her as they pointed and gasped, screeched and awed at each of the sea creature exhibits. More than anything, she enjoyed pretending to be invisible, anonymous, a wisp in the memories of the people she passed.

Her posture and gait changed with each day, each feeling. Sometimes, she walked tall and confident, head held high, smiling brightly at passersby as she offers a friendly greeting to those she knows and strangers as well. This happened fairly infrequently because for some reason, she found this to be infinitesimally exhausting. Sometimes, she seemed to float through crowds and down streets, aware that she must look somewhat confused and aloof but not caring that some might figure her to be a little mentally unbalanced. Mostly, however, she kept her gaze ahead, blinders on, and her best "eat shit and die" face staring out at the world. If she couldn't be invisible, maybe she could be unapproachable.

There was an awareness that certain people had a certain idea of her. It, at once, made her feel powerful and sad. Powerful to know that she wielded some kind of off-kilter, trance-like allure over men, particularly groups of supposed friends who would compete against each other for the chance to be with her, and sad because she knew that the image created of her was not anything close to the truth of her being and that there would be disappointment with their "prize" should any of them win her at all.

As she wandered from hall to hall, exhibit to exhibit, she had hundreds of thoughts, few having to do with another, no clear path from thought A to thought B and most of them contradictory even if they were truthful. It was this constant duality of thought that made her "the weird girl" she'd come to believe... That, her unnatural literalness, and her incomprehensibly trusting nature created a person who fit no molds, who couldn't be categorized or controlled. She found this amusing considering her sometimes incapacitating need to categorize and control everything in her life. Her naivety, if it could be called that considering her awareness of it, was her favorite quality about herself even as it tended to cause her the most pain in all of her relationships.

With that thought fragmenting through her mind, quirking up the right side of her mouth in the way she did when she had these mental tangles, conversing with herself, facial expressions and all, she wandered into the final hall of the massive aquarium. She always saved the best for last, savoring the moment she'd get to gaze upon the ethereal creatures falling and rising, pulsing and floating, tangled and billowing, dangerous and transparent. In all the animal kingdom, she would never feel connected to another species if not for jellyfish.



Jellyfish

She wanders along
Looking through the wrong glass, the wrong glass
And she’s crying her song
To pass the time, it’s time to pass

It’s useless to move on by
Her reflection in the watery sky
It’s useless to move on by
Her reflection in the cool waters lie

She’s singing light
Floating tendrils, poisonous grasp
Her voice takes flight
A crowd of solitude at last

CHORUS

She’d float, float, float for you
But no one looks at the jellyfish
They look right though

She’s smiling dark
Voices crack a little, seem to wane
Her presence sheer
Let’s go up, up, and away

CHORUS

7 comments:

  1. Er... not only is this pretty good writing from you, the song was, er... kinda nice. And that will be the one and only time I ever admit that in public.

    Get a damned microphone. With a windscreen. And one of those mattress pads to absorb the ambient sound.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jelly this is just one out of the box. Great prose, lovely lyrics and so nice to hear you sing it. Ambitious project for nine muses but I really hope you see it through. Lovely . . really.

    ReplyDelete
  3. wow. you have a lovely voice, and are quite the songwriter. Looking forward to more of this story and songs!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh wow. THAT brilliant. It wasn't that long ago that I realized a favorite blogger of mine read her poems to us. (Tess Kincaid of Willow Manor and Magpie) I feel like that auditory connection is really critical in grasping all that the artist intended for us to experience. And this is a visual learner admitting it. I truly loved this piece. Thanks, Ms. Jellyfish :-) And please, keep on singing. Have you seen the indie movie "Ondine"? I highly recommend it. You'll find some kindred spirit there if I'[m not mistaken.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "In all the animal kingdom, she would never feel connected to another species if not for jellyfish." Like this line and like the song!

    ReplyDelete
  6. She always saved the best for last, savoring the moment she'd get to gaze upon the ethereal creatures falling and rising, pulsing and floating, tangled and billowing, dangerous and transparent.

    Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aight, starting the complete read... now.

    Well, actually, I started it a few minutes ago, seeing as how I already reread this one.

    Never mind...

    ReplyDelete