On Instagram I shared a reading of my poem “Iron Shoes” published in The South Dakota Review:
3 Poems in The South Dakota Review
I was really honored by The South Dakota Review editor Lee Ann Roripaugh who accepted three poems for publication: “I brush my hair to shed the dead,” “It Cannot Be Called Ambition,” and “Iron Shoes” published in The South Dakota Review, Volume 54, Issue 2 (2018).
I enjoyed sharing this work through a video of me reading “Iron Shoes” for my Instagram page. If you’d like to hear me read more poems/share more of these through video, let me know!
Iron Shoes was inspired by a dream and also by a literal visit to the hospital to see my mother, Linda. It was the first time I had seen her in many years as we spent a lot of my adult (and young adult) life estranged.
I also had the opportunity to share my poem “Iron Shoes” with the IndyStar for their article “Indiana Poets Know the Power of Words” published in April 2019 as part of National Poetry Month. National Poetry Month is an annual tradition held near and dear by poets across the country. It’s an opportunity to revel in the magic of writing “a poem a day” or at least reading one! Perhaps causing some poetry mayhem.
Anyway, journalist Kelly Wilkinson asked me about the format of the text on the page, and I shared that “as the speaker in the poem loses her ability to think through what’s going on, the words shift to the other side of the page, with spacing and edging becoming more varied. This technique lets the reader feel the emotion and disorientation of the speaker.” That’s a pretty watered down version of what I said probably! The idea of the shift in the text to the opposite side of the page is the rift in reality versus illusion; being lost into the dream realm. By shifting my words across the page I am creating literal space in the readers mind, taking them on an unfamiliar traipse across the field of the page. We venture away from the hospital room (and the typical margins) and find ourselves sinking into the reservoir.
Dream images have been an inspiration for my poetry on a number of occasions. “Iron Shoes” was born from a literal dream where I was sinking to the bottom of a pond wearing iron shoes and all these silver minnows and fish were swarming around and nipping at me. I’m sure this was related to a childhood memory I have. One summer in the Ozark mountains, I waded into a small pond with feet and legs covered in mosquito bites and little minnows quickly swarmed me nipping and tugging at the bites. It was both grotesque and fascinating.
Two Other Poems Featured:
“I brush my hair to shed the dead”
You can listen to this poem thanks to IndyStar who shared audio version on SoundCloud.
“It Cannot Be Called Ambition”
In the poem “It Cannot Be Called Ambition” I plant another dream image: the mother poised at the edge of a ridge in an ice laden forest, and stepping off. If the dream hadn’t made it into the poem, would I remember it now? I have had vivid and haunting dreams my whole life. Sometimes, I write them down. This dream image is also melded with an image from memory; a trail in the Smokey Mountains National Park that was on a ridge. As I hiked higher and higher on the trail ice began to litter the path, shaken free from all the evergreens by a cutting breeze.
Can’t read these screenshots? Read the PDF with 3 poems here. Please ask permission before use or distribution.
Rachel Sahaidachny 