Beach Body

early morning. down to the shore again

to find a place to grieve. the place he left

lingering. here the ropes were loosed [here

he gave me kisses on the shore, here he left] she said

and while she thought and looked and felt, looking out

along the shore, in liquid space, she saw—far off

not sure—a body or something in the water—

wondered what, but then the waves pulled it by—still

far—a body for sure. [whose?] unknown

but she felt sick for the shipwreck,

wept for the stranger as a driving

wave brought the body nearer

and as it got bigger her soul grew smaller—now

near, nearing land. now she could see. now she knew.

it was her husband [it’s him] she breathed and

stretched a shaking hand and tore

her face and hair and clothes

[how can you come back to me like this]

in that bay a man-made pier, where the waves broke

down she went, she leapt

and this amazing thing: she flew,

struck light air, bore wings compressed and turned,

a desolate bird wave-bound

Translated from the Latin, below

____

Mane erat: egreditur tectis ad littus; & illum

Moesta locum repetit, de quo spectarat euntem,

Dumque moratus ibi; dumque, Hic retinacula solvit,

Hoc mihi discedens dedit oscula littore, dicit:

Dumque notata oculis reminiscitur acta, fretumque

Prospicit; in liquida spatio distante tuetur

Nescio quid, quasi corpus, aqua; primoque, quid illud

Esset, erat dubium. Postquam paulo appulit unda;

Et quamvis aberat, corpus tamen esse liquebat;

Qui foret, ignorans, quia naufragus, omine mota est;

Et, tanquam ignoto lachrymam daret, Heu, miser, inquit,

Quisquis es, & siqua est conjux tibi! fluctibus actum

Fit propius corpus. Quod quo magis illa tuetur,

Hoc minus, & minus est mentis. Iam iamque propinquae

Admotum terrae, iam quod cognoscere posset,

Cernit: erat conjux. Ille est, exclamat: & una

Ora, comas, vestem lacerat: tendensque trementes

Ad Ceyca manus, Sic, o carissime conjux,

Sic ad me, miserande, redis? ait. Adjacet undis

Facta manu moles: quae primas aequoris iras

Frangit; & incursus quae praedelassat aquarium.

Insilit huc: mirumque fuit potuisse; volabat:

Percutiensque levem modo natis aera pennis,

Stringebat summas ales miserabilis undas.

Notes:

The Latin original is an excerpt from The Metamorphoses by Publius Ovidius Naso, ed. Daniel Chrispinus Helvetius (1778)

Read the note on this poem by Victoria Punch.

Source: Poetry (May 2022)