Page 21 - June 2024 Newsletter

curving their assertion
among the tentative haunters.

This is the place.
And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair
streams black, the merman in his armored body.
We circle silently
about the wreck
we dive into the hold.
I am she: I am he

whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes
whose breasts still bear the stress
whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies
obscurely inside barrels
half-wedged and left to rot
we are the half-destroyed instruments
that once held to a course
the water-eaten log
the fouled compass

We are, I am, you are
by cowardice or courage
the one who find our way
back to this scene
carrying a knife, a camera
a book of myths
in which
our names do not appear.

This seems to me to be an exploration of the poet herself. It is
inclusive - the protagonists are mermaid and merman, “I am she: I am
he”, and are later described as, “We are, I am, you are”. It also makes
the extraordinary experience of the dive into something unremarkable -
“a book of myths, in which our names do not appear”. Rich has
managed to generalise her experience to all of us.
If she is a new poet to you too, please read more of her work. There
are huge riches to be found in Rich! (Sorry!)

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