The Swan as a Metaphor for Love is a short story by Amelia Gray. You can read it online here. It begins,
A swan’s foot, like a duck’s, is a webbed claw. In traversing swan shit and mud, these claws naturally gunk up and reek. Nobody in the history of the world, save another swan, has licked a swan’s foot while that foot was still attached to the swan.
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Romantic
ReplyDeleteRomance is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.
DeleteThis sounds fascinating. Valerie
ReplyDeleteThat first sentence had me right off.
DeleteOMgoodness. This is not just a metaphor. There's nothing implied about a swan walking in shit and mud. Realism comes to mind for me! Not sure where this tale (tail?) is going, but I'm off to find out.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a metaphor for swans, though, but uses the swans as a metaphor for love. Ah, love....
Delete...something that I never gave much thought.
ReplyDeleteI used to see swans on Valentine cards all the time, facing each other, their shapes together making a heart. Sweet :)
DeleteShe makes pond scum sound so nasty. I guess it can be but I don't think it is quite as bad, often, as she made it out to be. I suppose it depends on how polluted the water is.
ReplyDelete"Lower than pond scum" is an expression for a reason. The stagnant algae mixed with bird droppings pulled in from the shore, icky
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