Mummy by Marion Poirier
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He rises in an icy tomb,
rescued from over-turned boat
and watery grave.
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A crowd gathers around
the childlike image
with weathered face.
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He's a strange one
with cold, blue eyes,
vacant like the lake
in winter.
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She claims him --
being the dutiful wife.
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At home, he's content.
In a mummy's chair,
chuckles at cartoons
on the TV screen.
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The earth trembles --
walls crumble,
collapsing like a house of sticks;
She runs to hold up the sun --
the quake passes …
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Everything falls back in place.
He blinks,
asks what the fuss was all about.
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Mummy is a surreal poem which tells the story of a man caught in the grip of a deathlike state. He nearly drowns when a boat capsizes, but is rescued, only to return to his home, seemingly unaware of the incident and the danger he was exposed to. His wife attempts to hold everything together throughout the story.
.Strengths: This is the kind of work that makes us want to return to read again and again. We wonder exactly what the scene is all about. We feel slightly off balance as we dig into the story and the repurcussions of this odd relationship. Some readers might see the story as being about a passive husband and his responsible wife. Others might see the mummy as a child with an adult body. There is intrigue in the tale and its telling.
.The poet has refrained from using any extra words and also from explaining anything. She allows us to make our own decisions as to the meaning of this poem.
One interesting layer of meaning comes from the word mummy, which can refer to a preserved body wrapped in cloth, or to a mother. Thus, the title could be taken to refer to the man who nearly drowned or to the wife who saves everthing from falling apart. The poem never says the man is the mummy. We only know that he almost drowned, and that he sits, chuckling, in a mummy’s chair.
.The overall theme of the poem seems to be woman as the adult, the responsible one, versus man as the the eternal mixture of child and grownup. The man ends up watching cartoons – typically a child’s entertainment – while the woman remains in touch with reality and, in fact, holds everything together and up, including the sun. The earthquake and crumbling walls seem to indicate that the marriage could be falling apart. The man only blinks when it is all over, wondering why there was such a fuss. We clearly see an adult male who does not take responsibility for his life.
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Suggestions for improvement:
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The poet has carefully considered every word in this work. Very few adjustments are needed.
.It might be wise to omit the phrase He’s a strange one, as it is implied in the keen descriptions in the remainder of the poem.
.Overturned should be one word, with no hyphen.
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Most moving phrases:
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vacant like the lake
in winter.
Here, we sense not only the cold, but also the lack of movement and thought. The man is frozen; he has nothing to offer, and his eyes reflect that fact.
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The earth trembles --
walls crumble,
collapsing like a house of sticks;
She runs to hold up the sun --
the quake passes …
This entire stanza feels like the crux of the work. Here, we see that the marriage has had severe problems, which apparently have gone unresolved. The wife steps in to make things right, even holding up the sun. As the stanza finishes, calm seems to be restored. The poet wisely allows the metaphor to tell the story. And the stanza pours out like a movie, with plenty of action.
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He blinks,
asks what the fuss was all about.
Here, the poet ends on a note of questioning. We wonder what the poetic story is all about, and yet the image of the man sitting and blinking seems extremely appropriate to the tale. This is a noteworthy finish, which will stay with the reader long after the poem is finished.
.Mummy demonstrates the ability of poetic works to sit on a pivotal point between clarity and mystery. Marion Poirier has skillfully carried out a clearly puzzling tone, balanced by strong underlying meaning. For those who want to learn the art of surreal writing, this stands as an excellent example. Thank you, Marion.
.Patty Zion, Staff Editor