The Delta

sitting between the sea
and the desert
the intersection of
life and death
the delta

was a risky place to live
unpredictable, dangerous

shifting violently
order and chaos
intertwined people who loved
bred and bled

God on Sundays
the devil after dusk

Ken e Bujold

2022

Reviews

[Lathen Griffiths]

I like the way your use of opposite ends of the spectrum as it were here left me with a feeling or a sense of balance, a central ground as your opening line describes ‘ sitting between the sea
and the desert’. An evocative image was left in my imagination with your closing lines ‘ God on Sundays
the devil after dusk’…

Wonderful,

regards

Lathen.

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks for the kind review and friend request Lathen. Glad you like it. And yes there's an attempt at counter balancing going on throughout the poem. The delta has always been a sort of crossroads for mankind, good and bad, exchange of technology and goods, which is what I was looking to zero in on.
As for the last two lines, it seems I may have really reached my readers with them. As I was mentioning to Lisasview earlier, they were actually the first two lines I composed for this piece and then I worked backwards. The genesis for them was a combination of a recent trip to Memphis and listening to Kris Kristofferson's Sunday Morning Coming Down. The image just clicked seeing the Sunday morning penitents traipsing off to church, and recognizing I been out on Beall St the night before with a great many of them

[William Michael Reeves]

The waves of hypocrisy erode the earth beneath them. When in the fen, you're caught in the demon's den. So says Ken.

Billigami

[Nusquam Esse]

Sunday Evenings are particularly worth noting. From what I read of yours, I think this poem stands out as being both nuanced in its use of metaphor, yet still quite accessible. I think many people in the heartland will relate to this in one way or another. Interestingly, when I imagine a delta off a desert, mind leaps to Egypt... which the last lines totally don't match up to... so this contradiction in my mind creates in a way, it's own mythos.

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks for the kind review Nusquam. funny you mention your mind jumping to Egypt, because mine did too while working on this piece. In the end the whole poem is really just one long metaphor. I have had the good fortune of travelling extensively and I feel I am safe in saying that what unites great cities is they are quite often at the nexus of a river-larger body of water. The Delta here isn't so much specific in place as it is the city, and the desert is what lies beyond the city's understanding. The Sea is the city looking outwards the desert its fears, if that makes sense. Beyond that its pretty straight forward in my mind, any city is a contradictory place, saints and sinners, where you need your wits about you, order and chaos

[W. Barrett Munn]

More places than the Delta, Ken. Welcome to my state. Oh, well, keeps me inside writing.
Another fine piece of writing.
Winston

[Lisasview]

Good morning Ken,
Thank you again for your wonderful review on my Forevermore...
I was happy to find a poem of yours and did so enjoy reading it early here in Spain.
Interesting thoughts Ken....
These last words really made me think
God on Sundays
the devil after dusk
I love metaphors and I see so many in your words..
Just went back to read it for the 3rd time and enjoyed it even more.
I will be reading more of yours...
Lisa, American...now living in Spain

[Ken e Bujold]

thank you for the glowing words Lisa. The two lines you cite were actually the first two composed for this piece. I worked backwards from there. It is something I do quite often, beginning a poem almost anywhere, and letting it emerge like a child growing into its body. A bit of muscle here, some fat there...