It's #tbt! Enjoy this great one from SWWIM Every Day's archives!
In Viking sagas, language is roundabout. A sword is a blood worm; blood battle sweat. Is it this that made me a poet? Around my finger: a ring of Frejya’s tears bind us. Your blood is also of Viking descent. In Iceland we blend in with the locals, drinking heavy beers, eating fish stew, until they hear us speak: Is this also where my gift for circumlocution stems? You tell me you love me and I describe all the ways in which I would have made a good conqueror. You don’t argue. We look out over the glacial mountains (stone teeth, ice trolls, snow knives) and beneath, the lava (Earth’s blood, Surtr’s misery, liquid flame) lies in wait; there is always seismic activity here, no matter how stable or frozen the land appears.
Emily Hockaday's second full-length collection, In a Body, was published by Harbor Editions in 2023. Her first, Naming the Ghost, debuted with Cornerstone Press in 2022. Emily is a De Groot Foundation Writer of Note and a Café Royal Cultural Foundation, NY City Artist Corps, and NYFA Queens Art Fund recipient. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals in print and online, including Electric Literature and the North American Review. She is the editor of Heartbeat of the Universe (Interstellar Flight Press 2024). Emily writes about ecology, parenthood, the urban environment, and chronic illness. She can be found online at emilyhockaday.com and @E_Hockaday.
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That last line just smacks me. I went to Iceland with my husband shortly after one of our anniversaries (who can remember which one). On one hand the trip was about discovering Iceland, but of course it's also always about discovering ourselves in relationship with one another. You're right (or, the poem is right) that no matter how stable the land (or relationship) appears, there is always seismic activity and movement underneath. This poem is so specific, and yet, it feels relevant to my own life.
There is a grandness and an intimacy that draws me into this poem and holds me there. 🔏❤️👏🏻