Owl's Head

Richard Ingraham - Lydia Dyer

But for the block of ice

and the screaming warmth within us

To ask a question and to touch

a frail face that time moulded 

with my own

You are lovely to me

because I swear I saw your

breath mature; I witnessed

the passage of time

And I saw the gates of death

I entered your noose of life

Remember when they thawed

us out? We were newborns

so naked, wet and emerging

into an understanding that:

- shipwrecks 

- storms

- sickness

- mortality 

Are not abstract words but truths

that twist in the very fibres of

reality; my dream lover,

we could have sank to 

the ocean floor 

Instead you are my mermaid maiden,

disaster bride and we wed in stars

yes the shadows of God

Silver, gold, platinum 

We'll collect our anniversaries...

if they keep making them

I am the punchline of your jokes

You know my eyes are still upon you

as you sit and sow the garments -

our wedding rings shine in

affirmation, in sun and rain, all weathers

I ask the question still though...

but for the block of ice?

Any other crucible and 

could I have seen the shedding

of your skins, as we waltzed

towards the bed? 

Reviews

[Eilis]

Thanks to your naming of the couple and your title, I was able to go and find the background story to the poem. Fascinating story. And the fact that the couple survived while their shipmate died is a strange twist of fate.

For me, your poem captures all of the important points of their story and lends lovely flourishes to it that make it a living story. It has the feeling of the entire scope of one’s life passing in front of them in the end. However it’s not a reckoning, but a reveling in that story.

I’ve been married a couple decades, but I always marvel at couples who have made it through most of a lifetime together and are still able to offer each other the fullness of themselves. Your poem makes it feel like that shared experience bound the two for eternity and everyday, as a result, is a new beginning. If each day is a new beginning then love is also a bud emerging everyday. But with a maturity brought only by experience. I don’t know, I just like the dynamic you managed with your details.

Excellent details, too. You’ve shown the story inside a magical cocoon of ice. The thing they escaped that seemed to drive them into the future. Your poetry is polished & precise, but full of the living heart- exciting to read from a fellow writer’s perspective.

[C Peril]

Eilis, your words are so incredibly kind that I'm not really sure I deserve them. Such praise! I consider myself quite lucky to have stumbled upon this little tale, since I'm not from that area. Luckily it was mentioned in a podcast that I listen to fairly frequently - Lore. I think when I heard of a tale of a man and a woman being frozen together in a block of ice, something just started to stir within me. I got the writing itch, as it were... Thanks so much for your time. I look forward to glancing over your work soon.