Roberta Writes – d’Verse: Ode to a Shark and Thursday Doors

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Melissa’s d’Verse prompt is to write a poem about sharks. I just happen to have come across sharks twice on my recent travels. Once in the Dubai Mall where Michael and I visited the wonderful aquarium and one the plane when I re-watched Jaws. The movie that put me off swimming alone for ever and ever. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/07/15/ode-to-a-shark/

Jaws, the movie

Out of the corner

of my eye

I saw it

The great shark

stealthily approaching

a spray of blood

dismembered leg floating

down, down, towards the ocean bed

I swung my head

toward Mike’s small screen

He was watching Jaws

Jaws! The movie that scared

a whole generation

the reason I won’t swim at night

not alone, not in a crowd

The movie that traumatised me

and changed my view of the ocean

So, of course, I had to watch it

and now, I am retraumatised

for the rest of my life

Thursday Doors

These are a few pictures of doors from my visit to Dubai. It was only for one day, so we only visited Dubai Mall and the aquarium, which was very nice. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/07/17/shop-doors-part-1

Picture caption: Entrance to the hotel in Dubai City. It was a lovely hotel and well priced compared to Europe.
Picture caption: Entrance to the Rocky Shore exhibit in the Dubai Mall aquarium
Picture caption: Sea anenome
Picture caption: Jelly fish tank

The following three photographs are of the sharks in the tank. Sometimes they attack and eat the other fish. That’s sharks for you.

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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101 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – d’Verse: Ode to a Shark and Thursday Doors”

  1. Someone I know went to an aquarium and said that you could see the shark tank while in the bathroom.

    Sorry, I’m not sharing a bathroom with a shark, tank or not.

    Great poem Robbie.

    Please let me know if there’s any trouble with the reblog as I’ve had some website tech issues.

    Patty L. Fletcher

    About Patty L. Fletcher

    Updated November 2024

    Patty L. Fletcher is a woman of passion and exploration.

    She studies the art of manifestation and is a seeker of knowledge and the wisdom to know what to do with it when it’s learned.

    To learn more visit: https://pattysworlds.com/about/ https://pattysworlds.com/about/

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      1. I didn’t mean the one you visited. I think these people were in Sandiego.

        I’ll ask her tomorrow.

        Patty L. Fletcher

        About Patty L. Fletcher

        Updated November 2024

        Patty L. Fletcher is a woman of passion and exploration.

        She studies the art of manifestation and is a seeker of knowledge and the wisdom to know what to do with it when it’s learned.

        To learn more visit: https://pattysworlds.com/about/ https://pattysworlds.com/about/

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  4. “So, of course, I had to watch it” 😂 That made me laugh, Robbie. I think way back when I read the book before I saw the movie.

    Our older child got married at the aquarium in Camden, NJ. We got to see sharks up close all during the reception.

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      1. It’s fun and funny sometimes to revisit things.

        It was a beautiful wedding. The aquarium is on the Delaware River, right across from Philadelphia, so there were lovely views inside and out.

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      1. You’re welcome, Robbie.

        I remember being fascinated with sharks as a kid and seeing them in aquariums myself; part of that is what led me to write my shark short story, “The Harbor Master.”

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  11. Welcome back, Roberta.

    Your poem is so visceral. I thought it captures not just the horror of Jaws but the way a single film can leave its teeth in a whole generation’s psyche. But your blend of memory and imagery turns a cinematic moment into a lifelong phobia. And a perfectly shared trauma. One I can easily understand. 🦈

    That hotel entrance looks so somptous.

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  12. A poignant poem and beautiful photos. When we were scuba diving in the Great Barrier reef we saw a 6 feet reef shark. Some people panicked but the shark was just sitting there in the water looking at us and doing nothing. The guide told us afterwards that the shark was harmless.

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  16. I recently saw the play about the making of Jaws, called ‘The Shark is Broken’. Much safer than watching the film, just three men in a boat on the stage. Written by and starring Ian Shaw, son of one of the actors in the film, Robert Shaw. There were plenty of problems making the film, not least Robert Shaw’s drinking and the shark breaking, but it made for an entertaining play.

    PS, a girl at my high school in Perth, WA got bitten by a shark in the Swan River!

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    1. Robert Shaw did suit the part very well in the first movie. Sharks are opportunistic feeders, as are most predators, so they will kill a human if it’s possible. I think the thing that freaks me out is you won’t see them coming. Somehow, I feel I will see other animals coming and I know how to deal with hippos and lions. Thanks, Janet.

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      1. How do you deal with hippos and lions? The worst thing in North America would be a grizzly bear and sometimes a mountain lion. Loud noise, pepper spray and not attracting them or crowding them in the first place are the defenses.

        Yes, we have to watch! That movie is now a cult classic, I know people who watch it every year during Shark Week.

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  18. Hi Robbie – nice job with the sharks poem! I have not watched Jaws in a very long time, although I read the book about ten years ago and thought it was good. I liked what you said about sharks sometimes sharks attacking and eating other fish: “that’s sharks for you.” That definitely also applies the TV show Shark Tank. Hope you are doing well – I enjoyed your travel pics on Instagram!

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      1. I get that – I grew up swimming in New Jersey’s Atlantic every summer and love the ocean, however, I don’t think there have been a lot of l shark scares in that area. You do see a lot of dolphins jumping and diving there, and they can look like sharks from a distance. It’s always good to be careful swimming, though. Rip tides worry me more!

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      1. They are interesting but I do not blame you. After all we enter their domain, where they are top predators.

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      1. I was also scared when I saw it and had to walk into the lobby of the theater to take a break. LOLOL Now, as you said, if I saw it again, things would be different. So scary. 🙂

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    1. HI Maggie, yes, time has moved on and the amazing special effects of the past are much less amazing now. It is the same with the original Star Wars movies. It is a very well filmed movie though – I was impressed at the filming techniques used.

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  22. Watching “Jaws” once was enough for me, although I did also read the novel. When my husband and I rented a small glass-bottom boat in the Florida Everglades, a sand shark passed right beneath us. It was only about eighteeen inches long.

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  25. “A dismembered leg floating.” Very descriptive. I love your photos. Aquariums are fun. My niece has always loved sharks. She is 40 now and still celebrating Shark Week. I wrote a shark poem tonight after I read yours. I’m going to post it on my blog later. 😶

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  27. Great poem and gorgeous doors. I loved the line about being retraumatized for life. My most traumatic movie was the Exorcist. I will never watch it again! It took me months to get over it, and even then only by prayer.

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  28. Relatively sure I am the only outlier here … have never seen the film! You did bring it to life here in this exquisitely composed poem. No more peeking at others’ little screens.

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    1. Hi Priscilla, Jaws had a huge impact on those of us that saw it as kids in a big movie theatre. I’m astonished at how many people have said this film put them off swimming in the ocean and other places. Quite a feather in Stephen Spielberg’s cap really.

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  32. Jaws gave me pause when I saw it (and I have never watched it again). Years later I was in Hollywood, taking The Universal Studios tour and the mechanical shark used in Jaws popped up to spook all of us on the tram and I was freed of my nervousness caused by the movie. That being said, I am not thrilled to be swimming even where there are minnows in the water… yuck

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  33. Your aquarium photos are beautiful! Those are doors to a really magical world. As for JAWS, I have never seen it. Not only would I have never gone swimming again, but I would never have slept again! You are brave indeed to watch it twice!

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  36. Great poem, Robbie, and Jaws is a classic. We’ve watched it a million times. We don’t swim in the ocean around here because of dangerous sneaker waves, cold temps, and great whites. I’m no shark expert, but they do fascinate me. And I don’t view them as monsters. I think (without knowing the facts) that those who get attacked are swimming in their territory. I have great respect for the ocean, enough to not swim in it. I saw this movie around the time I was with my family at the Colorado River. My sister and I wouldn’t go in the river at night because of the movie. Though there are no great white sharks in rivers. 🙂 Love your photos! 🥰

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    1. HI Lauren, it is amazing what a huge impact this movie had on youngsters who watched it. I won’t swim at night even in a private swimming pool. I am just creeped out be dark water. I agree that humans are in sharks space when swimming in the ocean. It is often people on surfboards who are attacked as they look like turtles to a shark. They are most certainly no monsters. Thanks for your lovely comment.

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