Grex Poetry Conference

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Grex Poetry Item 118: Cocktail stormy sea
Entered by lumen on Mon Jul 26 22:06:45 UTC 1999:

Let me drink of the sea that threatens to swallow me.
The thunder is loud and the lightning hurts my eyes.
I can smell the heady scent of that ocean,
and I can see that the elements mix it
in a myriad of colors and flavors.
The clouds are dark and bitter.
Let me plunge into the depths
that I might not see that dullness of the sky.
Earthquakes on land throw chunks of rock at me,
so let me take the tsunamis they make as
they come to these vast waters.

Let me drink again,
so that the waves may cascade on my brain
and the growing numbness
will cause me to forget.
Cause me to forget
the wounds the landlovers did inflict on me.
Message in a bottle, indeed--
I come out to sail in one,
not throw one out to the poisoned shore.

I am told I am not alone,
but the mists are heavy out here.
The ship of fools sometimes comes out this way,
but it's sailing the sky
and I join the crew only when it sails the sand.

Aye, I can swim,
so I walk the plank
on this boat of pain.
I've pulled myself back in,
and I grow weak to the siren's call,
so full of the sea's brew am I.
I've walked only a few times,
but I'm not sure when
I'll drown
or crash upon the rocks.

5 responses total.

#1 of 5 by russ on Tue Jul 27 04:35:37 1999:

Interesting view of an alcohol haze.  I'd never considered it
in terms even remotely like that.

#2 of 5 by lumen on Tue Jul 27 19:11:36 1999:

it's describing the psyche of an addict, or rather, one that is prone to 
addiction

#3 of 5 by flem on Sat Aug 7 04:56:31 1999:

The Message in a bottle section is good.  "poisoned shore" is really 
good, struck a note.

#4 of 5 by orinoco on Sun Aug 8 14:43:38 1999:

Posoned shore is good, yeah.  "But it's sailing the sky / and I join the crew
only when it sails the sand" is _great_.  

"Earthquakes on land throw chunks of rock at me"...I found this line
unintentionally funny; I'm not sure why.  Something about it's phrasing, or
the word "chunks".  Maybe it's just me...
"Aye, I can swim" and "walk the plank" didn't do anything for me.  You've got
your nautical theme well-enough established without talking like a bad movie
pirate :)

Okay, so I'm picking on a lot of phrases, but I really do like this poem. 
Good work.

#5 of 5 by lumen on Tue Aug 10 19:11:08 1999:

I'm not sure why, but my grim reality in all its morbidity can inspire 
my best poems.

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