A History of Drowning, 2

Carrie Olivia Adams

Why does it move so?
Why does it break or ask to be broken?

Her fingers stay tied. She is sitting on her hands to save them.

What if this too were to flower?
What color might it be in the dark?
Or with his back turned?

Carrie Olivia Adams



I liked this poem. I think it was about trouble with a relationship and consideration of having an affair. It is the second poem in a series of 5 poems by this author that all appear to be about problems in the speakers life. Possibly the same speaker with problems leading up to a possible suicide in the last poem.

I reviewed an interview with Carrie Olivia Adams and she is considering "the sense of lonliness that defines the human condition" in her writing. Though this perspective may seem very negative to many people, including my mother, who would like everyone to "look at the positive side" of everything. That is just not how life is. There is no positive side to many things that occur everyday. As unfortunate and negative as this may seem to some people, it is a reality for others.

In an interview, the author notes that even when her dream of publication came true, she realized that she would still have to keep her day job, wait for the bus and ride to work on a sticky seat. Though some people cannot appreciate noticing these types of things everyday, this perspective and the viewpoints in the poems, are something that I can relate to. It is not necessarily a bad thing to be able to focus on the negatives. Recognizing them is the only way that they can be either accepted for what they are or changed if they need to be.

The interview with Carrie Olivia Adams can be found at http://robmclennan.blogspot.com/2009/06/12-or-20-questions-with-carrie-olivia.html.