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| Rowing Home by Winslow Homer (1890) |
Hunger for poetry is a larger
hunger --
not for beauty nor for truth, but
for the alchemy of arriving there
in the caverns of our own bodies.
Poetry is the craft, the boat on
the river
of language, the river between
consciousness and sub
consciousness
and even unconsciousness
Whether or not that craft arrives,
whether or not you remember
boarding
or disembarking, riding the craft
opens doors of possibility.
And so we take up the oars or
we find a seat. Whether
we indulge
in sweat or stillness or swim off
the stern—
we have made the leap, and we eat.
My blog poems are rough drafts.
Please respect my copyright.
© 2019 Susan L. Chast
The boat on the river of language......what a wonderful description of poetry.... i love the making of the leap in your closing lines.just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteYes, and once that leap is made there is no going back.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that riding the craft opens the doors of possibilities. If you never try, you do not know where the flow will take you, what doors of possibility will be revealed and unlocked.
ReplyDeleteThis is delicious (yes, I've noticed that I might be overusing the word "delicious" today, lol! I blame it on my first delicious cup of coffee in a very long time). All right, tangents aside... I love this ode to poetry, especially this bit: "riding the craft / opens doors of possibility" because it's true. The ending, too, because poetry (writing it and living and reading it) is food.
ReplyDeleteThe tone of the poem, the motif, and some of the word choices remind me of "everything exists in the word", from Memoirs, by Pablo Neruda. It's one of my favorite passages in the whole wide world. So, yes, I LOVE this poem.
"whether or not you remember boarding/or disembarking, riding the craft/opens doors of possibility": Yes, yes. This is so well done — the entire process and sub-processes of poetry and how it all streams through the conscious, subconscious and unconscious make for an enthralling journey. This hunger shall be subsumed through the craft after all, with everything that would become of us and the creation through writing. :-)
ReplyDeleteLOVE!❤️ This is exquisitely drawn in its capture of the yearning of the soul for poetry and wielding its power into the world! You made my day, Susan!❤️
ReplyDeletefor the alchemy of arriving there
ReplyDeletein the caverns of our own bodies....
Oh yes... perfectly said!
Indeed the delightful uplift, the nourishment of getting through to the magic: "the alchemy of arriving there" Exactly that Susan - great write...
ReplyDeleteI keep re-reading this; love this idea of what poetry does/is.
ReplyDeleteI like the image of poetry being both the river and the boat on the river. Poetry is so much more than mere words on a page!
ReplyDeleteI like how you have used the idea of the boat!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this poem, I could see myself paddling a canoe searching for the right words. I think I have traveled the different levels of consciousness a time or two. A lovely journey this day.
ReplyDeleteI really like the metaphor of the boat... and maybe it's more about the ride on the waves than the destination we might reach.
ReplyDeleteStunning! Language is the metaphor by which our subconcious communicates with us and poetry is the highest form of language!Absolutely brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI like this kind of hunger, Susan, this ‘alchemy… in the caverns of our own bodies’, and the metaphor of the ‘boat on the river of language’ is a strong one.
ReplyDeleteThat sub/un conscious connection is a strong one whether you come at poetry from the perspective of a reader or a writer.
ReplyDeleteAll through the poem i was filld with a sense of feeling and being there in ghe mood of writer, really not realizing there was reward as your end line awakened me to that consciousness. Wondeful poem
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by my sumie Sunday today
Much🌻love
This is a "wish I wrote that" love that poem. Now I see us all as poets in rowboats with oars.
ReplyDeleteYes, that craving certainly has me in its grip. What is remarkable is that we learn so much from reading others work too, with the way they write and influence us too. Curiously your referring to the boat in the poem reminded me of one of my very first poems which was of Charon rowing his boat on the river Styx to Hades with me on it but I jumped off to get a few more years to write!
ReplyDeletesuch a delightful read!
ReplyDeleteyes, once we make the leap, board the boat, there is little turning back. and let the psyche propel us.
great imagery and metaphors. :)
Poetry is powerful I'm not sure what poetry really is. For me it is a sort of mind speak mainly. Normal communication is not poetic.I don't mind if I don't understand what it is...as long as it makes me happy and fulfilled foremost and then it is alwaysw a treat maybe when what I say touches another person occasionally. This is so rewarding.Poets are very fortunate humans. Your illustration is lovely as is your poem.
ReplyDelete