
Sphinx at the World War I monument.
they say gargoyle
when they hear the sound he makes
I say prophet
I really reacted to today’s prompt after struggling over the last two. I also wrote a tanka for today and wanted to share it.
Protectors
wondering why the
guardians look so evil
remembering that
evil ones have no mercy
they will not flee from sweet faces
I looked it up and gargoyle comes from the French word for throat, and not all dragon or lion-like statues are gargoyles. Only the ones that serve as water spouts are gargoyles, the decorative ones are called grotesques. They were named gargoyles because you could hear the water rushing out of them. That made me think of what the word “prophet” meant. Prophet means “to boil forth.” Also, the gargoyles were thought to ward off evil spirits. Disclaimer: I believe that only praying in Jesus’ name wards off evil, but tanka poems can use metaphors as they are often autobiographical.
So I wrote these poems. There is a lot of false preaching out there, be sure to check what you hear against your Bible.