#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Moon Shell on Sand

A morning of thick and low and puffy clouds over the Gulf and I walked to Bradenton Bridge before working on my poem for tonight. I didn’t know what I would find. I wanted to find a treasure washed up from the Gulf and a treasure at my desk, later, a poem. First, I found the exquisite moon shell on the sand, freshly washed up from last night. Then I found the jelly, like a transparent dish over the tiny colorful shells.

“Mesoglea is "jelly" in the jellyfish.

“When a jellyfish dies it decomposes quickly and is often torn apart by fish, turtles and rough water. The last part to decompose is the "jelly" or "mesoglea." It is often found on the beach, sometimes with fresh, whole jellyfish nearby.”

“Mesogleal tissue is usually clear or milky in color and is soft and jiggly to the touch. It cannot sting. The sun quickly dries it out to nothing. It takes on many different shapes, many of which are pictured on this page.“ http://www.beachhunter.net/thingstoknow/jellyfish/mesoglea-jellyfish-body.htm

When I returned home I sat down to write and continued to work on my post card poems from my collection of images on this trip, and I felt hopeful about where I was getting. Tonight I joined the group, long distance and shared my poems and I got really helpful feedback. I think I’m onto something new, fresh, strange I want to keep working on; finding the strange enchantment in my images, my treasures from the gulf.