Flame Under Water

The Eyjafjallajökull volcano under the Eyjafjalla glacier in Iceland erupted for the second time in less than a month, melting ice, and shooting smoke and steam from vaporized snow into the air

Under granite-hard water
unrecorded on geography’s grid

disguised in invisibility
feeling and unfelt—
I hid warming myself under a coat of ice

flame

small as unimaginable
big as impulse
dormant as wintering seed

tucked inside frozen lining
sheltered and safe

gloved and hooded
I waited

A purpled knifescar
rings Jean-Paul’s mother’s neck,
anyone standing behind her
stands behind

She packed crayons and pencils
(he would sketch the boat),
pinned to his shirt
the address of her uncle

and later in her duffel brought him
his left-behind heart

So he arrived twice—
is still arriving

He runs, seesaws, climbs a tree
in Kreyol daydreams
when the teacher speaks English
Arithmetic is easy: subtraction,
take away

The day he threw the guinea pig
was after recess—
an inadvertent elbow, a misunderstood
remark, a flashback, a scent
an oncoming cold

or that headache

Author of the article

Denise Bergman’s most recent poetry book is The Telling (Cervena Barva Press, 2014). A Woman in Pieces Crossed a Sea won the Patricia Clark Smith Poetry Prize and is forthcoming from West End Press in Spring 2014. Seeing Annie Sullivan, poems based on the early life of Helen Keller’s teacher (Cedar Hill Books), was translated into Braille and made into a Talking Book. Denise conceived and edited City River of Voices (West End Press), an anthology of urban poetry. Her poems have been widely published. An excerpt of her poem Red, is permanently installed as public art. Her poem A Building Away was a Split This Rock poem of the week. She was selected as a finalist for the 2014 Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Poetry Fellowship. www.denisebergman.com.