A Molotov Cocktail of Poems

I put my
­                                                                                                      poems
in a bottle, entrust them to silver-tipped waves
but they meander back to shore
­                                                                                           are grenades
all mottled with sand,
ejected from their deep sea grave
­                                                                                 we remove the pen
unless, of course, they bob above
tossed from spray to foam
­                                                                   throw them into the world
they are cherished by mermaids
and it’s mermaids that send them home
­                                                                      wait for them to detonate
I clean the bottle with sea water and weed
climb to the highest cliff top
­                                                                           ducking critical shards
take the glass coffin with my poems inside
­                                                                                    burning with awe
and with a prayer, I let it drop
but the poems return again and again
­                                                                                            at the impact
they will not let me forget
the ethereal charms of mermaids and mermen
whose singing I can hear yet
­                                                                                                    and heat
­                                                                                              of the words

Kim M. Russell,  24th May 2018

Message in a bottle

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Meeting the Bar: Contrapuntal Poetry

Paul is our host this Thursday and he has set the bar high withcontrapuntal poetry. He explains that contrapuntal music is composed of multiple melodies that are relatively independent and are sounded together. In the poetic world, contrapuntal poems are poems that intertwine two (or more) separate poems into a single composition. He has given us an example poem by Tarfia Faizullah, entitled ‘Aubade Ending with the Death of a Mosquito’, together with explanatory notes.

Paul would like us to either take two of our own poems and combine them to create a third, or write two new poems to create a contrapuntal.

I took one poem from May 2016 and the other from April this year.

37 thoughts on “A Molotov Cocktail of Poems”

  4. Wow, I forgot that that was an option: to take previously written poems and combine them. That sounded entirely too complex so I brushed it off immediately, but I’m surprised to learn your two poems were originally written entirely separate from one another! How you made it work so well! I’m now tempted to try this with two of my own independent poems. Great work, Kim.

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  8. Both of these work so well separately and together. I see poems exploding, other poems in glass coffins returning again and again. Together, we have recalcitrant, volatile poems. Good stitching!

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  13. fascinating how the concept works … and it does really well here Kim …. the left and right equal a new third …. a new poem …. and yeah, poem as grenade is so incredible, and honestly, a bit unexpected, given you and your voice – so that made me smile (I think of your work as more honestly pleasant and meaningful rather than bomb-dropping, unless it’s a delightful box of crayons you’re offering to allow for us to soothe the savage beast, so to speak) so the idea of mermaid and mermen and messages in bottles is the counter point to the grenades …. which is really you Kim – and it’s wonderful!

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  15. LOVING the title and what you’ve done with your “melody lines” here. A poem as a grenade….watching it explode….coupled with the message in a bottle and mermaids and “mermen” 🙂 And those last words — the heat of the words — how they relate back to the title. Wonderfully done!

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  16. kaykuala

    they will not let me forget
    the ethereal charms of mermaids and mermen
    whose singing I can hear yet

    Creativity has a way of making itself seen time and again to be sustaining itself in the poet’s mind!. One just cannot leave it idle! Very true Kim!

    Hank

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