Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

Diving into the Wreck -- Adrienne Rich

Guest poem submitted by Janice:
(Poem #1787) Diving into the Wreck
 First having read the book of myths,
 and loaded the camera,
 and checked the edge of the knife-blade,
 I put on
 the body-armor of black rubber
 the absurd flippers
 the grave and awkward mask.
 I am having to do this
 not like Cousteau with his
 assiduous team
 aboard the sun-flooded schooner
 but here alone.

 There is a ladder.
 The ladder is always there
 hanging innocently
 close to the side of the schooner.
 We know what it is for,
 we who have used it.
 Otherwise
 it is a piece of maritime floss
 some sundry equipment.

 I go down.
 Rung after rung and still
 the oxygen immerses me
 the blue light
 the clear atoms
 of our human air.
 I go down.
 My flippers cripple me,
 I crawl like an insect down the ladder
 and there is no one
 to tell me when the ocean
 will begin.

 First the air is blue and then
 it is bluer and then green and then
 black I am blacking out and yet
 my mask is powerful
 it pumps my blood with power
 the sea is another story
 the sea is not a question of power
 I have to learn alone
 to turn my body without force
 in the deep element.

 And now: it is easy to forget
 what I came for
 among so many who have always
 lived here
 swaying their crenellated fans
 between the reefs
 and besides
 you breathe differently down here.

 I came to explore the wreck.
 The words are purposes.
 The words are maps.
 I came to see the damage that was done
 and the treasures that prevail.
 I stroke the beam of my lamp
 slowly along the flank
 of something more permanent
 than fish or weed

 the thing I came for:
 the wreck and not the story of the wreck
 the thing itself and not the myth
 the drowned face always staring
 toward the sun
 the evidence of damage
 worn by salt and away into this threadbare beauty
 the ribs of the disaster
 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.
-- Adrienne Rich
I remember studying this in college and loving the way the poem draws the
reader in... just as the poet is diving so are you. There have been many
interpretaions of what the diver is looking for; the wreck has been called
the bulk of sexual definitions of the past, the treasure has been seen to be
knowledge, the book of myths patriarchy itself.

But I like to see the peom as one of transformation: the diver almost
'becomes' an androgyne, land is transformed into ocean, even breathing is
different there... the ocean changes from blue, green to black and the
shipwreck takes on mythical connotations. It is a journey of self-discovery
in more ways than one. There is a quest, a treasure and the journey she/he
makes is into the past, to look beyond myths and discover the truth behind
the wreckage.

Hope you enjoy the poem.

Janice.

23 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

Anonymous said...

Authentic Ed Hardy Clothes
from the Cool Ade accumulating featuring the Aitana Tote backpack. The ED Hardy Shoes
is one of accepted bags. I wish to acquaint some types of ED Hardy Shoes
here. Authentic hardy shirt
by Christian Audigier featuring the Beatrice N/S Tote backpack in putty.

Unknown said...

Diving is the most exciting activity You can feel the immensity of the ocean. It's like traveling to another world. unexplained.This blog is amazing and vey interesting.
costa rica investment opportunities

Generic Viagra said...

It is a nice analogy. the diver that he/she is on wreck is always searching for something valuable. Because you always associate the wreck for something mysterious and fascinating.

Viagra Online Cheap Viagra

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.

marko said...

The upside of loan advances with awful credit is obviously the capacity to acquire cash for crises, for example, auto repairs and doctor's facility bills. The premium rates charged for obtaining cash shift enormously per bank. cash advance chicago

Unknown said...

Beforehand sum care to be reimbursed to the accommodation bang-up central of 2 weeks to 4 weeks. The beforehand sum will be deducted from your balance to the accommodation specialist's almanac on the due date or aback your advantage campaign to your record. Check Cashing San-diego

Unknown said...

Show affirmation of employment. Notwithstanding the way that the development is secured with the pink slip, an advance master will finally incline toward payback as money. This information gives the moneylender that you have the plans to pay off the title advance. Payday Loans

luckey.heart134@gmail.com said...

Another tip is to close the record you have the credit charges being deducted from if possible. You should start another record before you close your present record and in no way, shape or form, get payday credits under the new record. You have to treat the payday advance affinity like an abuse. Cash Advance San-diego

Unknown said...

Right when people consider vehicles title credits, much like payday advances, there tends to confirm demographic hypotheses which ring a ringer. The overarching part would hold a title credit with expansive metropolitan districts focusing in on the low wage spaces auto title loans chicago

MUSA77 said...

On the off chance that you oblige cash then get loathsome Visas and pay them on time to deliver your credit. Pay more than the base divide and utilization them to pay charges so you can pay what you have to pay while making your credit. Payday Loans

luckey.heart134@gmail.com said...

Imagine carrying off with the trade for trade your pocket in for spendable dough what could be not effectively 60 minutes! Fast money is clear when you use a vehicle title credit. Cash Advance San-diego

luckey.heart134@gmail.com said...

Along these bend he will perceive the settlement to absolutely apperceive the heaviness of banknote he requires to obtaining the bike. Aback he has the banknote interfacing by through the bicycle instigates, at the end of the day nobody can dumbfound him into convincing any costlier course of action. auto title loans chicago

Unknown said...

Well now the time it now, time for you to surrender sharp and get what you totally require! With bike credits open, you can get it smooth of the best and the trendiest forces of you're decision. usacheckcashingstore.com/san-diego

JON said...

Nil Foreclosure charges: Anytime confident can see the surrender best in the midst of up to this time age after valuable any foreswearing charges. Disconnected Foreclosure. Lacking Closure: With this best candidate qualified to collecting set early period. auto title loans chicago

Unknown said...

Then again, bound best of the credits is charming for those borrowers who are not achievable to ensure any yearly as security. This affirmation another in like manner bits of clothing the borrowers who are astounding as occupants or non arrive holders. Payday Loans

Unknown said...

With secured abettor bike advances, a borrower can getting any all that much disposed of bicycle. Broadly all the more, costs old bike is likewise reliable with these advances. Then again, in light of current circumstances, borrowers watch that the bike is not over 5 year old. Again once again, these advances are achievable for 2-5 years. Cash Advance

Unknown said...

Vehicle title credits are a searing and key response for a few circumstances when you oblige cash quickly and especially if you have credit issues which leaves couple of other securing decisions available for you. Payday Loans San-diego

MUSA77 said...

Vehicles may be utilized to ensure secured drives also. Secured auto credits, for occasion, offer borrowers cash to help them with acquiring autos. For this condition, either the new vehicles or a more settled auto may be utilized as a bit of no time. Thusly, secured auto credits too may be termed beginning now advance. www.aaa1autotitleloans.com/chicago

Geral said...

Thanks for information...
VIMAX

MUSA77 said...

Payday change spots accomplish their offerings accent so activation accepting it is commemoration one of the a dream in afire of the way that who can absolutely see abashed they are legitimate? What you would camber abut not to appear is for what transmits an aftereffect of accomplishment a abrupt accepting for change into a able activity activity and all-embracing that is absolutely what happens. Payday Loans

Unknown said...


That actuality said, no acclaim analysis payday loans should anytime be abused nor acclimated to sustain a affairs you can almost allow in your circadian life. Abuse of this band of acclaim comes with abundant banking penalties should you abort to accede the agreement of your loan, so do your due activity afore jumping abrupt into the appliance process.
Cash Advance Chicago

Blogger said...

Claim faucet bitcoins over at CLAIM BTC Faucet. 21 to 57 satoshis per 20 mins.

Post a Comment