[​and the sea has eaten montreal by now]

in love with this

in love with this

Hello Flooding,

You have a lot of striking imagery here. I'm in love with your usage of language; some notable phrases to me include "the saints are soft / with algae" and "she says i love you in four dead languages" and my personal favorite "the moon bends low / to kiss her wrist like an eager lover". Something about the anthropomorphism of the moon to create an interaction between the girl and her environment is powerful, especially when it is clear that there is a sense of loss/solitude perhaps outside of her choosing. I also find the mention of the "white dress" meaningful. White is commonly seen as clean, pure, innocent -- all of these things I feel touch upon this idea of starting over, perhaps at nothing.

Speaking of the girl, I feel like she is the stronghold of this poem that cements the central message together. We're faced by lovely scenery, yet she is the vessel for a lot of the emotion being conveyed. The act of the girl cutting her hair, paired with dead languages, and a drowning museum speaks to the movement of time and perhaps the loss of the past (presumably of a culture). By letting go of her hair it's as if she's losing a part of her identity. Hair means many things to many different cultures, and I feel like that's relevant to the overall theme of this piece.

What strikes me as interesting is her speaking in "four dead languages": I'm torn between this feeling like she is trying one last time to hold onto her community/culture, versus her finally letting go by speaking to these long gone parts of herself. She's speaking to someone but there is no answer, likely because everything is gone. This contradiction is interesting to me because her cutting her hair is such a decisive act. I wonder if there was an intention behind this?

There's a very strong historical, archaic feel throughout, almost reminiscent of an 18th century art piece. As an art history fanatic it's as if you've captured the essence of a painting in your writing, which is beautiful! Overall, the integration of nature with human life is intriguing, and I like that nature appears to be "taking over" in a way through time's natural course. That said, I think it would be interesting to explore the girl's role deeper towards the end. We get this sense that the crabs are almost asserting dominance or reclaiming land, in a way, yet the girl has been dismissed in this last stanza and has me wondering where this leaves her. Might be worth exploring!

Until next time!

Well done! I love the imagery here. Your poem paints a vivid scene in the mind's eye. The girl is an interesting character, though there is a lot left unanswered about her, such as the purpose of her hair-cutting. I interpret her speaking in dead languages as a way to preserve culture, which has since been washed away by the rising sea levels. I would like to see more of this character in the future, as she is quite mysterious.

Overall, this poem was eloquent and beautifully written. It was a pleasure to read this.

hi there! :]

I am really drawn to the surrealist setting that's been created here; it's a submerged world where religious architecture and cultural relics are overtaken by marine life, which feels like an inversion of other kinds of sacred / humanist imagery that is common. The aquatic imagery blends with human symbols of ritual / memory, and I think that shows how time transforms everything around it--especially architecture, which is the most literal interpretation, and I like how the narrative blurs the line between what is the metaphor and what is really happening. I would assume it's meant to be post-apocalyptic in a way, but it's very different from ways I've seen that done.

The girl feels more like a stand-in for an idea rather than a literal girl who has survived whatever had to have happened to submerge the city. She speaks "in four dead languages," and I imagine that's implying extinction: culture, communication, connection between peoples. She is the only person that we have proof of existence, and the other people around her, e.g. the saints that are "face-down in their niches," aren't meant to be taken at face value. I wonder if the city is a metaphor for isolation / alienation then, as the only interaction the girl has is with the moon, who shows her empathy by kissing her hand. Traditions fall under the tides of time, but people and ways of life do as well; she could represent that.

Besides imagery, the poem offers very little sense of the girl’s inner world beyond her speaking dead languages and cutting her hair. She is treated as a main character in a way, but there is nothing known about her. It left me unsure of why she did those actions to begin with, e.g. I could imagine the hair-cutting being a ritual, an act of grief, but also an assertion of control. Hair is often said to hold memories as well, so possibly she was trying to erase the memory of what the city had been / what she knew before. I would've loved to see within her mind a little more, especially in those emotional moments, and she lacks depth for being the only autonomous figure outside of the crabs in the last stanza.

Speaking of crabs, it's unclear who / what they are meant to represent, and they come in so suddenly. The crabs have learned *our* names--the first time the narrator is mentioned and the reader becomes implicated in the narrative--but it isn't specified why or how they know 'us' in this situation. I first thought that the ringing of the bells without hands meant that the crabs were keeping the score, and that they have replaced the original deities / traditions of the city. I could see many different interpretations though, and one more line about their purpose in the setting would've cleared up many questions. I'd suggest to connect the girl / 'us' with the crabs, as they seem humanized in the last line.

I hope this helps!

lina