I’ve had this jelly 'thing' pulsing and twisting through my mind since 2000, teasing and cajoling me into finding the words to let it out. Not the jelly on toast thing, but the gliding, pulsing kind, that can sting while they caress.

In 2002, I wrote a book for kids, 9-12, called Jellyfish Inside Out.

I grew up idolizing Edgar Allan Poe, and his poem THE BELLS continues to delight my own dark side.

And so I offer the words that have been tickling and tormenting my brain for over two decades. Written in the manner of The Bells.

THE JELLIES

See the bloom of glowing jellies
With their bells and sparkling bellies,
As they ripple and they shine,
In their soundless seas.

Matching stars that heaven sprinkles
With its breathless space for twinkles
The skies just can’t compete,
with the jellies’ soundless ease.

They wave and test the water
Arms that sway and never falter
Scouting silent seas
Looking for their food.

How the jellies pulse and swish,
as they spot some tiny fish,
And they ripple and they winkle
When their food is viewed.

Their sleek and stinging arms
Wrap prey in deadly charms,
Into a waiting mouth,
They slowly coax their snacks.

Keeping time, time, time,
In an oceanic rhyme,
Predator and prey,
There's no time to relax.

See the iridescent jellies,
With their bells and sparkling bellies,
As they ripple and they shine,
Quiet tintinnabulation

With their arms in circulation,
In their soundless seas.