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Dragons Lost at Sea

In salty seas green dragons fly the waves,
With plastic scales—a man-made guard from rot.
Submerged to sleep in rocky water caves;
Bereft of flames they blow and bubble not.
A cargo ship of Lego spilt the lot,
And tiny bricks are drifting round the deep;
A micro-world of figures hard to spot,
In tides’ unceasing briny brushing sweep.
Against the surf they bob where dolphins leap,
And beachcomb hunters seeking matchless grails
Are playing shipwrecked games of find and keep
Where beaches change and flotsam’s strewn by gales.
A thousand years may pass but pieces stay,
With dragons who were sunk one stormy day.

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Poet’s Note: This poem is inspired by the true story of a cargo ship that was hit by a freak storm off the coast of Cornwall, England in 1997 and dumped sea-themed Lego into the sea. The Legos still turn up on the beaches there today.  

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Isabella Simmonds is a British musician and piano teacher living in London. 

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14 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Wonderful and imaginative poem about the wreck of a ship carrying plastic Legos that actually sunk. At first, I thought it was about a child playing with something plastic in a bathtub until I read your note. Fun poem with creativity.

    Reply
  2. Ivy Joew

    This Spenserian sonnet is a prime example of how poetry can encapsulate and—were Lady Fortuna to turn the gubernāculum one’s way—immortalize ephemera much more beautifully and economically than any report or essay.

    Reply
  3. Joseph S. Salemi

    This is a nice sonnet, and the subject is contemporary. In one section of the South Pacific there is a huge mass of floating plastic debris, as big as the state of Texas. It grows every year, and will certainly take centuries to dissipate, if it ever does at all.

    Reply
  4. Isabella

    Thank you for commenting. Yes that is incredibly large and very detrimental to the wildlife of the oceans.

    Reply
  5. Margaret Coats

    Isabella, your title and poetic diction and Spenserian sonnet form elevate the Legos nicely. I’m glad they’ve become a desirable item for beachcombers, as the find-and-keep game helps clean beaches. I have sometimes found sea glass which, unlike plastic, transforms beautifully in tumbling by waves for a relatively short time. Glass, almost all sand to begin with, is a natural material–and sea glass is so desirable it is artificially produced to be sold for jewelry and other decorative purposes.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      I first found sea glass on the beach near Dover Castle in England. The shores in the U.K. are sometimes pebbly rather than sandy, and this seems to produce sea glass more quickly. I noticed it at first because of the different way it reflected sunlight when wet. Only later, when examining it more closely, did I realize it was shards of glass that had been tumbled smooth by the constant motion of waves in the surf.

      I collected a large bag of it over the years, from many different places. Since bottles of all colors are broken and tossed by the sea, the sea glass was multicolored like a lot of mixed candy. When a colleague at work told me that he was going to refashion his aquarium tank, I offered him the glass to spread at the bottom instead of sand, and he gratefully accepted it.

      Reply
    • Isabella

      Thank you so much for your comment Margaret. Oh yes sea glass is beautiful! All tumbled smooth and shaped by the ceaseless waves. I’m not surprised that it is now artificially produced.

      Reply
  6. Paul A. Freeman

    What a brilliantly encapsulated tale, Isabella.

    I was reminded of a 1992 incident when a container of rubber ducks fell overboard (29,000 of them) and helped oceanographers map Pacific Ocean currents!

    Reply
  7. Isabella

    Thank you so much Paul! I haven’t heard of that particular maritime incident. Rubber ducks in the Pacific! A great story for a poem!

    Reply
  8. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Isabella, what an unusual and beautiful sonnet that shines with melodious language and exciting imagery. I love every Lego-laden line. Great stuff!

    Reply
  9. Mimin Zomi

    This sonnet of yours is actually good. Brevity of words, elegance, mastery of the language. I will like to connect with you if you are on facebook where my username is Mimin Zomi, with ‘Invictus anima” written on my bio. I wish to see more of your works.

    Reply

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