Midden: Poems by Julia Bouwsma (2018, poetry, US)

The Story of Fire

Our brushfires hung thick and black. They kept
us warm, cooked our pots of clams,
and every day the villagers smelled our smoke
from their porches on the mainland.

A stick on fire curls and curls,
each fiber glows as it peels
from the stalk. So it is with a story,
driftwood flames green to blue;

How they came in boats,
how our shacks caught like a shot of light
when match met kerosene. How we left
in their boats; how we huddled
close; how mama bent
to the baby, her crooked
arm clamping him
silent. How a child curled
mouth to smoky knees and bit
them to read.

A stick on fire—

Now. one hundred years later,
the archaeologists find
no ash, no scorched ground, no scraps
of charred wood, just loose nails
in the shell heap:

evidence that when the villagers said leave,

we willingly tore our houses down
with our hands.

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There is much that can be said of this poetry collection inspired by the story of the 1912 forced eviction of a small, multi-racial community living on Malaga island just off the coast of Phippsburg, Maine, but I will try to keep it brief. This is extremely well researched. The poet includes notes on more than half of the poems included, and her “afterword” offers her process. This is all more than most poetry collections include. Some of the poetry is written in the voices of the islanders who speak directly to the reader of their experiences, other poems elucidate the poet’s often emotional journey in the researching and writing of the volume. Both are compelling.

I thought the collection very moving, made more powerful in it’s careful conservation of words. And more is said sometimes in the spaces between words, you know? Each poem seemed to become deeper and clearer with subsequent reading (and the collection demands multiple readings, I think). I admit I was more drawn to the poems written in the islanders’ voices than the author’s, but it is a intertwined story, one needs the other.

One can find a number of articles on the Malaga Island by a simple search online. ( )