Thursday April 4th, 2013

The exercise:

Write about: the shark.

Decided to treat myself this afternoon by going for a haircut and a shave. I can't remember the last time I had a proper cut (hurray for curly hair I can chop myself whenever I see a strand getting too long) and before today the only person who has ever shaved my face was me.

I quite enjoyed it. Max seemed to find it pretty funny when I got home (I've probably been clean-shaven three times since he was born and he's never seen my hair this short).

Though I did get a bit panicky the first time the barber put the hot towel on my face. I could breathe through my nose fine, but the sensation of being smothered was highly unpleasant for a few moments - especially because he walked away to do something else after putting it on.

Mine:

Gliding through dark waters,
Searching for a meal.
He'll have white meat, dark meat,
Anything that squeals.

He's a patient hunter,
In no rush to dine.
Stomach full of surfer,
So he's feeling fine.

No hurry, no worries,
He's as cool as mud.
Well, at least until he
Smells a bit of blood.

5 comments:

Greg said...

I don't think anyone other than me has ever shaved my face either. Someone did get me a voucher for a pampering shave and haircut once, but it expired before I managed to get any time off work to use it. It sounds like it was pretty relaxing (apart from your hot-towel panic attack!). What did Kat think of it all?
I really like the rhythm and sinister-jokey tone of your poem today. It's a kind of Disney shark with a bit more realism that Disney usually allows in their cartoons. Perhaps a Hannah-Barbera shark ;-)

The shark
Sberyichev listened to the clamour of the alarms through the quantum prison and allowed himself to relax a little. The walls of the prison seemed to blur when he did so, and ghosts like outline sketches ran through them. He knew that these were quantum echoes of the guards, guards in potentia who could conceivably appear here in a heartbeat, but he also knew that they had no idea where he had gone in the prison.
The pale man with green, bulging eyes and a smell of hazelnuts surrounding him sat against the other wall.
"You're down as 'Shark'," said Sberyichev. "My Atlas isn't great at resolving these details I'm afraid, I haven't had a lot of time to refine the functions I'm using. Did you eat people?"
The man blinked, and Sberyichev realised how watery his eyes were; the tears formed a film that magnified them.
"I played a little Poker, sometimes Blackjack," said the man.
"The shell game?" asked Sberichev, and the man laughed.
"I've not heard it called that in a while, but yes. Can I interest you in a little wager then?"
"I might have a counter-proposal for you," said Sberyichev. "Do you really like it here in this cell?"

morganna said...

Sliding through the water
Hearing the electric echoes
Aching for a meal
Ready to
Kill!

Aholiab said...

The teacher looked anxiously around the lobby of the Moody Gardens Aquarium, counting the children to make sure that none had strayed out of sight. Third graders were always so full of energy and when you concentrated twenty of them into a small area, their excitement and volume increased exponentially.

“Children!” She raised her hand high above her head. They quickly quieted and raised their own hands to indicate that they were listening.

“Does everyone have a yellow band on their wrist?” She checked each raised hand before they could disappear.

“Yes, Miss Schrieber,” they all chimed in unison. A few giggles ran through the group as they jostled forward, looking up at the models of sea creatures suspended high over their heads.

“Ok, good. Now, before we go in, I want to know...” She gave a stern look at Jeremy until he grinned and lowered his hand away from Lisa’s ponytail. “I want to know what the most dangerous creature in the ocean is.”

Again, a unified answer arose from her charges, “Man, Miss Schrieber!”

“Very good. And can you tell me why?”

“Pollution, Miss Schrieber!”

“That’s right. So let’s go see the new exhibit about all the garbage that man puts in the ocean.” She turned and began to lead them through the turnstile to the exhibits.

Behind her, Jeremy turned to Lisa and whispered loudly, “I still think it’s the shark!”

Lisa snickered and said, “Or Miss Schrieber!”

MosesMalone said...

Breck - Yo, Dude? You gotta die tonight, how’s it gonna be? Bleeding out from a gunshot or being eaten by that hot Starbucks chick that’s now a Walking Dead zombie?

Seth - Dude – gunshot. I get street cred, but she’s real hot, bro.

Breck - Cement shoes or sitting through your sisters Bachelor marathons?
Seth - Are you kidding? Cement shoes.

Breck - Shark or alligator?

Seth - I can’t play this game no more. I’m more scared of sharks than I am alligator. Uh-huh… Gun shot wound.

Breck - Yo, man! You got it wrong. You take some heat, you only getting on news that you aint watching. I'll watch you on Shark Week. I’ll be there. I’m your eyewitness. I might even play you in the dramatization. Yeah, man. Shark Week.

Marc said...

Greg - how long was the voucher good for? Like a year? :P

Kat liked the shave and, I think, is still getting used to the hair :)

That's a really excellent opening paragraph, and I love the description of Shark.

Morganna - another nicely done acrostic; particularly like that second line.

Aholiab - hah, great little scene. I feel like I could happily hear more tales from this school trip :)

Mo - hilarious. Bizarrely hilarious :D