Michael H. Levin
Islas Encantadas
(In Darwin’s Galapagos)
A ghost volcanic blast
unlocks the surface of a whitecapped
dolphin sea. Two hundred necklaced islets
rise in time-lapsed spree
uplifted by a molten platform
on the ocean floor—erupt, go dark,
collapse upon themselves; acquire
green mantles and new bursts of seeds;
appear to die then leap to life again,
repeated resurrections born of
warm spring rains.
Sailing due east in geologic time
they make perhaps an inch a year
towards trenched submersion while new
cones rear up behind them,
emblems of an earth alive.
Those first ashore (a churchly mission
bearing crosses) thought surely they had
entered hell: sheer lava cliffs, dark
glistening spews, crevasse-cut flats
crawling with dragons,
crimson crabs, huge
blue-gaze tortoises that tractored
sandy trails. They had keen sight
for faith but none for miracles.
Slate-colored lizards that sneezed salt
to cleanse their blood; tall dandelion trees
that sent trapped water down to shade below;
balloon-necked birds with razor bills
that floated near their cowls – all blindly
or with motions meant to exorcise
flew by. Blinkered by unexamined choice
they saw masked evil in flycatchers
that lighted on one’s hand—malevolence
in flowers turned yellow, adapted to
the menu of the Islands’ bee.
Between the fumaroles, a differently
invested eye might just have glimpsed
the symphony of rise and fall
embodied in these views—
in finches custom-tailored
to their missions in such
merciless terrain or tufa cauldrons
simmering with life, all dancing
to a metronome whose ticks
dwarf human minds. Still under orthodox attack—
reflexive horror at a streaming
which admits no charity and shows
a face more like remorseless
storm surge than accustomed gods—
that vision rests on stepwise method
shaken free of rote. Conditional
as turtle eggs or seal pups
we reprise his browned
laconic notes.
Michael H. Levin is the author of the poetry collections Man Overboard (Finishing Line Press, 2018) and Watered Colors (Poetica Publishing, 2014). His work has appeared in Gargoyle Magazine, Adirondack Review, and Crosswinds, among other journals and anthologies. Levin works as an environmental lawyer and solar energy developer, and lives in Washington DC. See michaellevinpoetry.com.
SUBMIT to What Rough Beast via our SUBMITTABLE site.