Elements - Chapter 3
Water
Geyser
in the earth’s pocket, water
gathers whispers waits
pressure builds in the system
political ecological personal
silica lines the walls
time accretes like grief like joy
the moment approaches
earth’s exhalation
steam r i s e s
spirit of water, spirit of stone
teach us your patient fury
geyser geezer guizer
words erupt from the same root
old faithful to rhythms beyond
our meager understanding
we stand at the edge
of discovery of wonder of change
and watch the sky open
This poem, inspired by Brenda Hillman’s style, uses experimental spacing and typography, as well as parentheticals and slashes to create multiple readings. It incorporates ecological and spiritual themes, which are prevalent in Hillman’s work. The geyser serves as a metaphor for natural cycles and the eruption of suppressed emotions or ideas.
Tidal Bore
The river forgets its direction
as the sea remembers its strength
a wall of water moves inland
carrying the ocean’s memory
We who have lived by the river’s rhythm
find ourselves strangers to its new song
the familiar flow reversed
time itself seems to run backward
In the mangrove swamps
roots reach up like hands in supplication
or warning we cannot tell which
as the bore approaches
There is no silence before it comes
only a different kind of roar
the voice of the river changing
into the voice of the sea
Fish confused by the sudden shift
leap into air become briefly birds
before falling back into a world
no longer certain
We stand on the banks watching
this daily resurrection of tides
this defiance of gravity and expectation
and wonder what else we have misunderstood
About the nature of rivers
about the patience of oceans
about the thin line between
pushing forward and being pushed back
The bore passes leaving behind
a river unsure of its identity
water that has forgotten
which way is home
In its wake we are left to ponder
our own tidal bores the forces
that surge through us uninvited
changing the course of our inner streams
This poem, inspired by W.S. Merwin’s style, uses free verse without punctuation and capitalization, which is characteristic of Merwin’s later work. It explores themes of nature, time, and human perception, often present in Merwin’s poetry. The tidal bore serves as a central image, prompting reflections on change, identity, and the interconnectedness of natural forces.
Tsunami
The sea withdraws, a breath held too long.
Fish flop on suddenly bare sand,
their gills working overtime.
In the moment before,
there is a silence so profound
it turns the air to glass.
Then, the horizon bends.
A wall of water carries
the ocean’s entire memory.
Sunken ships, lost continents,
the first amphibian to crawl ashore
millions of years ago.
It comes without malice or mercy,
a force as neutral as gravity,
as implacable as time.
Houses become boats,
streets turn to rivers,
the known world dissolves.
In the aftermath,
a child’s doll sits atop a mountain of debris,
its plastic eyes reflecting a changed sky.
We rebuild on shifting sands,
our lives balanced
between tectonic plates of uncertainty.
The sea, now calm, keeps its secrets.
We go on, somehow,
carrying within us our own potential tsunamis.
This poem, inspired by Tomas Tranströmer’s style, uses clear, precise imagery to convey complex emotions and ideas. It moves between the physical and metaphysical, exploring themes of nature’s power, human vulnerability, and the interconnectedness of all things, which are common in Tranströmer’s work. The tsunami serves as both a literal event and a metaphor for overwhelming change and the hidden forces that shape our lives.
Next week, Chapter 4 — Wind. Three different poems on the theme of Wind.