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Jellyfish

These two pieces of writing were an experiment to push myself to write about the same subject in two different styles. I put them in the order that I wrote them. I really like what came out of this experiment and would definitely do it again. I encourage you to think of all the different ways you could write about a subject and how you could use that to stretch your writing and improve upon an existing project.


Inside an egg is a deep blue sea, sparkling blue. The outside edges of this mini world are smooth; slick clear resin melts into the buttery surface of sanded wood. I stare at the chaotically tiered ridges under the surface, the midnight blue recesses where an ocean of fish could hide. But instead there is only one lone jellyfish, ghostly white, its tentacles gently exploring the cracks and crevices beneath it. It floats eternally in this frozen space and time and if you hold it to your ear you can almost hear the gentle creak and moan of the ocean’s heart, like a sleeping giant’s rumbling breath, pulsing in and out for eternity. 


On my desk there is an egg

Made of shiny clear resin

And buttery wood. 

Inside it there lives a world,

A mysterious deep sea, 

Midnight blue and iridescent sparkles,

Filled with cracks and crevices

Where anything could hide. 

But all I see is a jellyfish

Ghostly white,

Gently floating in this crystal ocean,

Tentacles softly stroking 

The ridges and dips 

Of the ocean floor. 

He is frozen in time and space,

A lonely traveler

Waiting for the moment 

That movement begins again

And he can journey across this great sea

Until he finds the soft sweet music

Of swimming fish

And dancing seaweed.

Until he can see the open mouth 

Of a whale,

A living net scooping through the ocean. 

He will keep pushing through this

Shimmering water

Filled with life

Until he finds a pearly group

Of fellow jellies

Softly pulsing in the ocean current

Like a familiar heartbeat

And he knows he is

Home. 

Published in Poetry Writings

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