For the dverse prosery prompt, to fit the line from Oliver Wendell Holmes: Through the deep caves of thought, I hear a voice that sings into a 144-word piece of prose.
World in a shell
I hold the shell to my ear and listen to the rise and fall of the ocean. Where are they born, these echoes that roll through the deep? Caves of thought? I hear a voice that sings with the voice of the whales, and the song is older than mankind, old as the ocean and those who first learned the currents and the tides.
The song tells of the making of the world from air and water and woven strands of kelp, the birth of mountains and rivers that run always back to their sea-home. Of trees that mimic coral forests where birds dart like feathered fish.
The shell spirals in and out, chambered like a heart, all the pearly hues of a dawn sky and it sings the ages of the earth until the silence after the final echo, the age of Man.
Jane Dougherty Writes 
Jane, you took the shell motif and built a world philosophy around it. The sounds, the seasons, the eons. I love the mirroring above as below the surface of the water, and “the silence after the final echo.”
Thanks Lisa. The world seemed to be evolving perfectly well until we arrived, didn’t it?
You’re welcome and yes.
Just a good written post
Thank you xx
Your welcome
Thank you!
Your welcome
I fished a few of your comments out of spam. I don’t know if the glitch was at my end, but if you’re missing replies, that might be the reason.
Ahh thank you so much.
Amazing work, Jane. Thanks. Especially loved the interplay of sea/not sea, the coral trees, the featherfish. Mind blown.
Thanks Ron. The only way I can fit a line of poetry into a prose piece is to make the prose poetic too. Sore thumbs and all that.
Amazing
Happy Monday
Much💖love
Thank you, Gillena xx
I have art for this, but I couldn’t find the words. Glad you did. (K)
I bet you’d have the words if you wrote a poem inspired by the line. I persist in thinking that you can’t dump a line of poetry into a prose piece without it drawing attention to itself—oh look, a line of poetry.
I’m actually working on something, but not directly connected to a shell. This is one of the better quotes to work with that we’ve been given I think.
I thought that too. It has possibilities of adaptation. Too often the line is memorable as a good line of poetry ought to be. Unique.
Yes. Those lines are always awkward in prose. It need ro be open and adaptable.
I always look at this prompt as an exercise in ingenuity rather than prose-writing.
Sometimes it defeats me.
Sometimes it irritates me more than it ought.
Wonderful way you interwove the line Jane. And this piece really carried me into your creation tale. Excellent my friend!
Thank you Rob. I find it very hard to work a line of poetry into anything but poetic prose. Poetry always reads like poetry.
This was enchanting and full of wonder. “Of trees that mimic coral forests where birds dart like feathered fish.”
Thank you, Christine 🙂 Everything comes from the same source after all.
Great use of the prompt line, Jane. The song of the Whales is iconic. A voice heard by those who take time to listen.
Thank you, Dwight. The shell and the deep caves led me there.
yes, it was an intriguing poem by Holmes.
I love your world in a shell, Jane! We’ve all done it, listened to the sounds in a shell, the questions are familiar, and I can hear that ‘voice of the whales’ as I read your prose. Beautiful imagery in the final paragraph!
Thank you, Kim. When we ‘grow up’ we know the explanation for the sound we hear, but it still doesn’t explain why has nature made such a thing possible? When the shell is empty and ‘dead’ it takes on a different role, and I think it’s marvellous 🙂
This is such a unique story Jane. Adds a brand new perspective to the creation story. I love how you used the prompt.
Thank you 🙂 I like to imagine backwards, listen to how the world was, because it seems to me that we are living in that final silence.
That’s a nice way of looking at things. A little retrospective optimism because we are living in that final silence. Btw Jane, I commented on your next post too, but all the comments I left for the elements prompt are in spam. They hopefully haven’t disappeared.
It’s a frightening prospect, but we’re staring into the abyss.
I’ll check spam. WP is such a pain.
If only I could hear a few notes of this song: The awesomeness of nature before the coming of man. This would make for an excellent opening in an epic novel.
It’s a theme that opens several of my novels. The kind that nobody wants. I’d love to know why.
Oh, this is so beautiful and beautifully done, Jane. 💙
I’m pleased you like it. Thank you 🙂
I do, and you’re welcome! 🙂
🙂
I so love the analogy tween sea and forrest, and the universality of the beautiful ancient song that doesn’t emanate from humans.
Thank you. It makes me sad that we could have been content to simply add our own strand to the music, but we’ve chosen to take it over and rewrite it all. It’s a flop.
Yes, a flop indeed.
😦