Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Robert Wrigley’s "In the Dark Pool, Finding You" is an evocative meditation on intimacy, desire, and the sensory experience of love within the enveloping darkness of nature. Set in a secluded, primordial environment, the poem blurs the boundaries between physical sensation, imagination, and animal instinct. Through its lyrical language and rich imagery, Wrigley captures the profound connection between lovers while reflecting on the interplay of vulnerability, longing, and the mysterious power of the natural world.

The poem begins in utter darkness: "No lights, no moon, no stars in the mountains." The absence of illumination creates an atmosphere of heightened sensory awareness, where sight gives way to sound, touch, and intuition. The "clouds clearing the night with blackness" paradoxically emphasizes the depth of the darkness, while the "owl fooling from the pine at the edge of the meadow" introduces an element of the wild, a presence both watchful and enigmatic.

The speaker, immersed in the "simmering waters" of a sulfurous pool, experiences both isolation and yearning. The lover’s playful retreat—“where you taunted me with nakedness and swam away in tease”—sets the stage for a dynamic of pursuit and discovery, where love becomes a game of concealment and revelation. The speaker’s blindness in the darkness mirrors their emotional vulnerability, as they rely on instinct and imagination to bridge the gap between them and their lover.

The owl, perched nearby, serves as a symbolic observer. With its "low bough bellows," it becomes a figure of both wisdom and predation, embodying the heightened sensory abilities the speaker lacks: "I would have eyes like his if I were dreaming, / and a voice to stir the night with, calling where? where?" The owl’s cry—its relentless "where?"—echoes the speaker’s own longing to locate their lover, transforming the search into a shared, almost primal act of desire.

The speaker compares themselves to a muskrat, "my mop of dark hair wakelessly moving alleys over the surface." This animalistic self-perception underscores the raw, instinctual nature of their pursuit. The imagery of "gently gnawing / your shoulder, where your skin will nearly squeak" captures both the tenderness and playfulness of intimacy, blending human emotion with an earthy, almost feral quality. The juxtaposition of the muskrat’s physicality with the lover’s "pink in the earth-cooked pool" reinforces the connection between human love and the natural world’s tactile, sensory richness.

The poem transitions into a more reflective tone as the speaker invokes the womb-like qualities of the pool: "These are womb-waters, I say aloud, and the owl goes quiet." This moment suggests a return to origins, where the lovers are enveloped in a space of creation and renewal. The speaker’s declaration—“I am a seed for you”—reflects both vulnerability and potential, as though the waters hold the promise of transformation and union.

Despite the darkness, the speaker’s imagination becomes a source of illumination: "Light is a trick of luck the blind man learns to live without. / Lover, here are my hands imagining you." Deprived of sight, the speaker relies on touch and intuition to perceive their lover’s presence. The line "In these waters, body-warm, I can make up where you are, and it will be true" captures the essence of the poem’s exploration of love as a creative act. The speaker’s ability to conjure their lover’s presence becomes an expression of love’s power to transcend physical barriers and transform uncertainty into connection.

The owl reappears in the final lines, "high in the pine, and dining on imaginary mice." This image of the owl feasting on figments mirrors the speaker’s own act of creation, where love becomes a blend of reality and imagination. The shared act of invention—between owl and speaker—ties together the poem’s themes of perception, desire, and the interplay of the seen and unseen.

Wrigley’s free verse form allows the poem to flow organically, mirroring the movements of the pool and the fluid interplay of thoughts and sensations. The language is rich and tactile, immersing the reader in the speaker’s sensory world while evoking the mystery and intimacy of the moment.

"In the Dark Pool, Finding You" is a profound exploration of love’s ability to navigate darkness, both literal and metaphorical. Through its vivid imagery and lyrical introspection, Robert Wrigley captures the vulnerability and creativity inherent in intimacy, celebrating the ways in which love transforms uncertainty into connection and the unseen into something deeply felt. The poem resonates as a testament to the sensory and imaginative power of human connection, rooted in the wild, primal beauty of the natural world.

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