Today’s prompt comes to us from Vince Gotera, who suggests a “kenning” poem. Kennings were riddle-like metaphors used in the Norse sagas. Basically, they are ways of calling something not by its actual name, but by a sort of clever, off-kilter description — for example, the sea would be called the “whale road.” Today, I challenge you to think of a single thing or person (a house, your grandmother, etc), and then write a poem that consists of kenning-like descriptions of that thing or person. For example, you might call a cat a mouse-stalker, quiet-walker, bird-warner, purr-former, etc.

Today I booked an island chaser, so it’s become the theme of my kenning.

Island chaser

island chaser
wave bouncer
salty people-carrier
swirly-carpet heaven
fish-and-chip fryer
car-alarm nudger
seagull magnet
porpoise racer
hair ruffler
rocky ride
haven seeker
island chaser