Karen Finneyfrock

We had to get in a mention of the poem "Oceanography" by Karen Finneyfrock in UnionStationMagazine, from July 2010. It's a theme or topic poem, but it's really beautiful--and fascinating. It is somewhat reminiscent of W.H. Auden's best work, or Ted Hughes's best work. Or even the mystical bells in the Garth Nix kid's book Sabriel.

It's incredible, here's an excerpt:

There are seven layers to the ocean.
The top one is clear, cellophane or wax paper, moves
like oil with no respect for irony.

The second layer is ocean wax, which liquefies
as it gets cold [...]

Layer four is akin to hypnosis. So deep, you relax to go there.
There are still animals, eyes orange in the Halloween night, glow tape
on the theatre stairs. The slow fade begins.

Layers five and six are peelings of the abyss, the abyss and the great abyss.
People think it is silent down there, but the whales scream when
sonar bass drums itself on the ocean’s skin. Black ink on black paper.
Everything that swims has legs.

[...]