Into the Blue (poem)
''It is dusk. The crows are sounding off like a tempest heaving through Bermuda...''
It is dusk.
The crows
are sounding
off like a tempest
heaving
through Bermuda,
like flatulence
brewing
in their amateur
bodies, like a sail
puffing past
the horizon,
and like a lighthouse
bleating its blaring
horns and flashing
the sea, tantalizing
its mania, exhausting
the topic,
a gunmetal eye.
About Into the Blue…
I’ve been spending the late afternoons at shore and out at sea in boats. My most recent poem, ‘‘Into the Blue,’’ is one of my most cinematic. Elements from Virginia Woolf’s classic To The Lighthouse, on which I recently wrote a finals research paper, inspired this poem.
“What is the meaning of life? That was all- a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years, the great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead, there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark; here was one.”
― Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
To The Lighthouse is prominent for its lighthouse landmarking, storm theatrics, and existentialism, amongst other things. My goal was to make this poem feel ominous and foreboding without being overbearing. In ‘‘Into the Blue,’’ the lighthouse is merely a satirical metaphor for a savior, while the sea is a metaphor for chaos and disorder, similar to how the two are portrayed in real life, but with a minor twist. I've discovered that the more I read, the faster I can burn through poems.
That’s all for now, Victorians! Thank you for reading, and do share your thoughts in the comment section below. I’ll see you all next week!
- Victorian Voices, Somiah Nettles xx
When you say "burn through poems" do you mean in the reading of them or the writing of them?
Like always, very imaginative writing!!