The Tuesday Poem: Refeaturing Frankie McMillan — “My Father, The Oceanographer”
My father, the oceanographer
.
knew the language of whales
yet tripped over the sound
of his own name
They say the cure for death
is drowning and for a lisp
a bucket of salt water
—-
In white gumboots he entered
the stomach of a whale
sat brooding under the great arched bones
of a church
invoking the mantra of LFA sonar
whale fall
and echolation
stripped to his underwear,
so great was the heat, and
blubber he said
now there was a word to make you weep
.
(c) Frankie McMillan
First published in Turbine, 2011.
Also in: There are no horses in heaven, Canterbury University press, 2015.
Featured here with permission.
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About the Poem:
I am currently engaged in the process of re-posting poets who have had multiple poems featured here on “…Anything, Really” , or by me on the Tuesday Poem Hub, since I joined the Tuesday Poem community in June 2010.
Today I am delighted to continue featuring the “unique and insightful” (Beatties Bookblog) poetry of Frankie McMillan. When I first posted My father, the oceanographer in 2012, I asked Frankie to provide her own perspective on the work. Here’s what she said:
“I’m never sure how a poem is ‘made’ but once I have a good opening line it gives me the courage to explore the possibilities. It’s a hit and miss method and out of the many poems I attempt only a few survive. I think this poem may have echoes of the biblical story, Jonah and the whale. The fact my father hardly talked to me as a child may also have informed the poem. Or then again, I’d seen the film, ‘The King’s Speech’ which might have worked its way in with whales. I imagine a lot of poets work in this subconscious fashion.” ~ Frankie McMillan
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About The Poet:
Frankie McMillan is the author of The Bag Lady’s Picnic and other stories, and a poetry collection, Dressing for the Cannibals. In 2005 she was awarded the Creative NZ Todd Bursary. In 2008 and 2009 her work was selected for the Best NZ Fiction anthologies. Other awards include winner of the New Zealand Poetry Society International Competition (2009) and the NZ National Flash Fiction award (2013). In 2014 she held an Ursula Bethell writing residency at Canterbury University. Her second book of poetry, There Are No Horses in Heaven was published by Canterbury University Press in March, 2015.
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I love this poem, Helen – thank you for posting it!
It’s great, isn’t it — and as I said on Twitter, “classic Frankie.” 😉