King Tide
Surging, stormless sea. Shore break in the brush. Sunset surfer swept away. Sirens, three, unfurling as we rinse sand at the trailhead. My hands a vise around my daughter so she can’t watch the muscular woman astride a limp man. Compressing his chest. Competing, the urge to turn her towards this pageantry of rescue and role reversal. The first ocean was ambivalence. The light less pink. Less. And less.
2 replies on “King Tide”
Thank you for this gorgeous, powerful poem! Alliteration swept in and then, the “pageantry of rescue” and “role reversal.” So true in sound and sense.
My students are reading Miller’s Circe and we’ve talked about revisionary approaches to mythic women like Circe and the sirens. You do that work so deftly here. I would love to share this with my students!
Thank you so much for this thoughtful response to my poem! I’m sorry I didn’t come across it earlier. I hope you did/do get a chance to share it with your students.
Cheers,
Emily