ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem came out of the November 21, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] bairnsidhe. It also fills the "fish" square in my 7-1-17 card for the Winter Fest in July Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by [personal profile] janetmiles and Cody. It belongs to the series Feathered Nests, which you can find via my Serial Poetry page.


"A Lot More Respect for a Bird"


Commander Quillon Hale,
Commander Andreas Tyre,
Ensign Julian Obert,
Lieutenant Risa Martina, and
Lieutenant Carilla Rodriga
applied for family quarters.

The captain glared at them
over the paperwork, but
at least he approved it.

The ship wasn't used
to having five people
move all at the same time
and all into the same quarters.

They managed, though, with
a minimum of fuss, except that
Quillon was nowhere to be found
which left Andreas and Carilla
to do most of the heavy lifting.

When Andreas and Julian went
to check Quillon's room, they
discovered all of his belongings
packed neatly into boxes, so they
shrugged and carried them home.

Risa and Carilla bustled about
hanging photos of Fifers and
a few pieces of native art on
the walls of the living room.

Andreas flopped down
on the couch and declared,
"I have a lot more respect
for a bird now that I have
tried making a nest."

The door chimed, then
opened to reveal Quillon.

"Where have you been
all this time?" Carilla snapped,
glaring at their errant husband.

"... getting the fish?" he said
in a baffled tone. "All the alephs
insisted that this was traditional."

Everyone stared at the string of dripping fish.

"We're having Filetes de Pescado for supper!"
Risa crowed. She grabbed the fish from him
and then scampered into the galley.

"Works for me," everyone agreed,
and followed her to offer their help.

* * *

Notes:

"You'll have a lot more respect for a bird after you try making a nest."
-- Cynthia Lewis

Filetes de Pescado is a Mexican dish featuring fish in spicy sauce. It literally means "fillets of fish."

(no subject)

Date: 2018-01-20 01:07 am (UTC)
technoshaman: Tux (Default)
From: [personal profile] technoshaman
*laughter* Far better than pizza delivery. :)

And then the "you'll have a lot more respect for a bird" reminds me of St. Linus the Torvalds' quip on Linux' mascot (see icon)...

Some people have told me they don't think a fat penguin really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me they have never seen a angry penguin charging at them in excess of 100mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what they say if they had.
    -- <cola-liw-834355743-12037-0@liw.clinet.fi>

Re: Thoughts

Date: 2018-01-20 04:13 am (UTC)
technoshaman: Tux (Default)
From: [personal profile] technoshaman
When my ex found out about the 100mph Penguin quote, she *demanded* a stuffed Tux as a power symbol. Far as I know she's still got it; we've been living apart nearly 10 years now.

Re: Thoughts

Date: 2018-01-20 10:36 am (UTC)
siliconshaman: black cat against the moon (Default)
From: [personal profile] siliconshaman
It is fact that leopard seals hunt and kill penguins. It is also a fact that they are successful only one time in about ten. [compare a penguin and leopard seal side by side.]

It is also a fact that one time in maybe a hundred, the penguin injuries or even kills the seal.

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