alabaster orb – bursts forth
swollen
shoulders aside waves
sheds seaweed tresses
water – salt cascades – ripples
wash ashore
cast-off calcified shelters
ridges – mathematical spirals
gnarled driftwood alight
flames curl – bow to night sky
sparks leap high
hasten to dry cratered face
mussels steam over stone
You got me conflicted about the difference between mussels & clams, but I loved the poem. I just returned from 4 days at the ocean on Washington state’s coast, & am still burping up steaming clam chowder; dig your last line alliteration.
Since I’ve never had the privilege of a clam bake, I will comment on your moon, Brian. Alabaster is the perfect shade and giving it (her) shoulders against the backdrop of the sea is lovely imagery. 🙂
That alabaster orb that ‘bursts forth / swollen / shoulders aside waves’ could be the moon, a mermaid, a person or a shell – it’s so beautifully ambiguous and open for interpretation. I love the sound of ‘sheds seaweed tresses’ and ‘salt cascades’. The fire is so alluring, as is the idea of eating around a driftwood fire. I can hear and smell those mussels steaming over stone. Deliciously done, Brian.
Well, the moon rising on the night beach sets the stage for this wonderful clam bake and your quadrille is jam-packed with amazing, descriptive imagery.
There Are More Poets than Stars in the Firmament 
I especially like these phrases:
“seaweed tresses”
“mathematical spirals
gnarled”
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Thanks Shawna. 🙂
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To bake clams like this sounds wonderful… Or as Diana Ross once sang… “I want mussels” 🙂
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It’s an institution up there.
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This licks and singes like flames. So well done.
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Thanks. No one has commented on the moon rising out of the sea.
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I love the high leaping sparks and the smell of mussels steaming over stone, yummy yum yum! :o)
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Do whippets like shellfish?
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The whippets are not interested but when Ruby, our greyhound, was still with us she would munch them on the beach.
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You got me conflicted about the difference between mussels & clams, but I loved the poem. I just returned from 4 days at the ocean on Washington state’s coast, & am still burping up steaming clam chowder; dig your last line alliteration.
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I suppose mussels are long and narrow and clams more round. I am sure there is a logic somewhere.
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I got hungry by the time I finished reading your poem ~ Its been some time but would love to eat it again ~
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Thanks Grace. I’m intrigued that no one mentioned the moon rise, only the food.
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What a beautiful choice of words to offer those sparks to us. Lots of possibilities in here for words to use for a quadrille prompt.
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Thanks for your sparkling comment. 🙂
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What a wonderful clam bake.. love the mathematical spirals.
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Me too. Everything in creation is based on mathematical principles.
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To have baked clams is great more so if done by oneself!
Hank
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Thanks Hank. Your comment was spammed.
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Since I’ve never had the privilege of a clam bake, I will comment on your moon, Brian. Alabaster is the perfect shade and giving it (her) shoulders against the backdrop of the sea is lovely imagery. 🙂
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Thanks Mish. I do love a good word color.
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Oh dear, now you got me hungry for some clams. I can taste and smell them from here. Beautiful (sumptuous, if I may say) imagery, Brian.
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Thank you very much for dining with me today. 🙂
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And thank you, too! I wasn’t able to find a clam but I did have baked scallops with cheese. ❤
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Oh man, the imagery in every word/line simply shimmers brilliance!!
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A cold night on the beach. 🙂
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the delicious words you use made my hungry! geez! EPIC!
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Thanks. I’m sorry the food can’t pass through the screen.
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haha. it’s okay.
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Oh I love the image of the moon rising out of the sea!! 😀 Incredible write ❤️
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Thanks. I can ‘sea’ the moon.
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That alabaster orb that ‘bursts forth / swollen / shoulders aside waves’ could be the moon, a mermaid, a person or a shell – it’s so beautifully ambiguous and open for interpretation. I love the sound of ‘sheds seaweed tresses’ and ‘salt cascades’. The fire is so alluring, as is the idea of eating around a driftwood fire. I can hear and smell those mussels steaming over stone. Deliciously done, Brian.
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That’s very true although I was fixated on the moon. I would hope a mermaid did not have a ‘cratered face’. 🙂 Remind me to write more food poems.
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I can smell, see, and finally taste this clam bake! Yum!! Nice take on the prompt😊😎
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Have a wonderful, wonderful trip and when you get back, share amazing adventures and memories with us.
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I shall indeed. Come read my first travel muse poem from Singapore and travel with me!😊
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Love the choppy nature of this poem, like little waves lapping against the shore.
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Or like chopping up the food to steam. 🙂
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Well, the moon rising on the night beach sets the stage for this wonderful clam bake and your quadrille is jam-packed with amazing, descriptive imagery.
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Thank you very much, the ‘clam-packed’ bake is quite flavorful. 🙂
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Moonlight, beach, fire, night time, feasting. You give it a magic.
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Magic, yes that’s the word.
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Nice view of a clam bake. I was wondering what it would be like to be a clam at one of those.
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Juicy I would guess… and very steamy.
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Did you have an ice cold drink with those clam?, You know in New England beer and clams go together. Just sayin”
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A nice Sam Adams perhaps.
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Ah an excellent choice or a Shipyard Pumpkin
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I’d never been to a clam bake until I read your poem. I felt drawn into the experience.
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Thank you. Glad you could get a sense of the meal.
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This is wonderful, hits all the senses.
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Thanks for sitting in and partaking of the feast.
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😀
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A UniVerse
of Oyster..
a Clam
to hOld.. spaRKs
a sHell to break noW
as Love E-Scapes as Nature..:)
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Venus again. 🙂
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SMilEs.. yes..!..:)
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This made me hungry!
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Dig in, there is plenty to share. 🙂
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Very vivid.
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Thank you very much.
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