NaPoWriMo #9 - Your Mission

For today's prompt, we had to write a poem that contained 12 words from a list, a bitter taste and a couple words from a poem that hadn't quite worked.

My twelve words were: flap, pail, jug, lever, octopus, marionette, rug, jam, limp, startle, bruise, walker. The poem that I took a chunk from was my response to Prompt #2, acronym.

On a side note, this is the longest poem I've written so far, and also the first one to rhyme.

How to Catch an Octopus

You'll need a pail of sardines

and some tuna jam

and a jug of sea greens

for if an emergency comes to hand.

Promise him a walker,

for every octopus longs to walk.

Slowly pull the lever,

tell him you want to talk.

Make sure he doesn't see the closing of the net.

Then raise him with a length of cord

til he dangles like a marionette

and let him struggle til you're bored.

Watch him in silence

as he flaps in the breeze.

But keep your distance,

for he has yet the strength to squeeze.

Don't startle the beast

or he'll ink

spewing black where you want it least

til it hurts to blink.

Don't be startled by his desperation

or his willingness to bruise.

There's no cause for admiration

of a creature who can't even wear shoes.

He'll never walk or even limp

or learn to cut a rug.

It's a wonder he's not extinct

when he's less capable than a bug.

Sell him to the market man

for a pocket full of change.

Then walk away, while you still can.

Don't look back til you're out of range.

Don't worry, the bitter taste is normal.

It's just the ink, nothing more.

You've done nothing abysmal.

You're no different than you were before.