Poetry: Diving into the Wreck

Tools to Aid Our Memory Matt Kalabokes

9/22/16

“Diving into the Wreck” looks at human memory in an interesting way. In this particular poem the diver is recounting a bad memory. Preparing for this trip down memory lane the diver has brought along some tools that will help. The speaker mentions Jacques Cousteau and I believe the reason for that is going through your memory or past is an adventure. The diver finds many things in the wreck that are metaphors for memory.

The knife represents danger and can be also used to cut a poor memory. The speaker says “and checked the edge of the knife-blade” (3). Now bringing a knife for a dive might be routine, but if you are checking the blade you know there is a possibility of danger. When we remember certain events from our life, we know that it may not be a pleasant memory. Which is why the knife is used as a tool to try and remove that memory.

A camera is used during dives to show what is actually there and present a factual representation. Cameras show us videos or snapshots from our lives of events. While our memory may think of an event in one way. A video or picture can show what actually happened. Sometimes we try and make an event better than what it was. And while can try and tell yourself something, the proof will always come from the camera. Which is why the book of myths represents what the diver may think of this memory. How the diver remembers this event is a myth and not a fact. Which is why the camera is vital for this dive.

The ladder is a tool used to dive into this memory and then return back to reality.

There is a ladder

The ladder is always there

hanging innocently

close to the side of the schooner. (13-16)

The ladder seems like an innocent simple object but it is very important for the diver. It is needed to get in and out of the water. In order to access the memory the speaker needs a way to get there. The ladder is able to transport the diver to a completely different place. While we may not want to remember certain events, the possibility of remembering them and going down that road is always there, just like the ladder.

With any unfortunate event there is always a wreck left behind. Something that you can come back to and analyze.

I came to explore the wreck.

The words are purposes.

The words are maps.

I came to see the damage that was done

and the treasures that prevail.

I stroke the beam of my lamp

slowly along the flank

of something more permanent

than fish or weed

the thing I came for:

the wreck and not the story of the wreck

the thing itself and not the myth

the drowned face

always staring

toward the sun