kennings, 3

  advancing into the sunset

    the two dimensional surface
    and the selfboat of my body

    from another dimension
    your warm presence
    seems
           in this cool ocean
    more real
          than my own

    with every breath of the salty water
    i taste roses
      of your wavy breasts

    the ocean passes by (the sun is red)

    i wear horizon
        'round my head

wh ©
1989/1990
dec/dec

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There is 1 diagonal and 2 non-diagonal kennings in the above poem:

diagonal:

• roses of breasts — nipples and their aureoles;

non-diagonal:

• the selfboat of my body — this kenning is an extraction. And "selfboat" is a neologism.
• breath of the salty water

The last phrase has a potential to become a diagonal kenning. In the given poem it describes the breath of the lyrical subject rather than of the ocean. The latter interpretation is possible as a secondary one. Anyway, that latter interpretation allows for a diagonal kenning of fog or wind at the sea. Thus I will include this last kenning in both categories of kennings.

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Let me compile the kennings which have appeared in the 3 poems posted so far.

Diagonal kennings:

• breath of the salty water — sea wind or sea fog;
• God's toys — church buildings;
• roses of breasts -- nipples and their aureoles;
  
• stars' backyard — mountains or a town up in the mountains.

Non-diagonal kennings:

• breath of the salty water
  

• grass lawn

• the code of behavior

• the meadow of slumber

• the selfboat of my body -- an extraction
  

• the sheets of music

• the sky of May

Neologisms:

• selfboat -- the body of a swimmer or simply a swimmer.