Marlin Mourned
Nicola has always had a passion for the sea and, for Metamorfishes, has created a remarkable gallery of illustrations to draw attention to the sufferings of marine creatures as a consequence of sea pollution. Rather than dramatise their torment to generate anger, Nicola has sought to elicit our sympathy. Her gently ironical images take a recognisable species at their core and intermingle each marine creature with a number of pollutants. Many of the creatures are seen to have mutated - hence our title.
Unusually, Nicola produced her images first and then asked me to write something to go with them. Tricky! Here's my piece for this illustration:
Remember that heroic fight:
The Old Man ‘gainst the Marlin’s might?
But now the fearless, arched Crusader
Falls victim to this frail invader.
The plastic plague extends its curse:
Our Marlin in a take-out hearse.
The chieftain of both sea and sky
Now scorns us from that cold dead eye.
In a nutshell, "How are the mighty fallen!" There is no formula to the poems but each one takes a specific perspective, here starting with a reference to Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, and works towards a gentle satire, echoing the tone of Nicola's artwork.
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All images and text are subject to copyright. Nicola Dennis & John Eames 2018