Caught in the Gyre

William Butler Yeats accurately captured in words and poetic images the force of the deep ocean gyre (see previous post). I am not an especially strong swimmer by mermaid standards, so when I found myself in the cold Arctic waters off the coast of Norway recently in a widening gyre, it took all my strength to escape it.

The only way to escape the pull and fury of a gyre is to swim under it, and that is what I did. I swam almost straight down, several hundred feet at least, until I reached the ocean floor. Looking up through the miasma, I could see the gyre in the shape of an enormous funnel channeling the frigid aquamarine water, a tornado of water taking everything into itself.

Drawing on the power of my mind and ethereal body, I swam down and away from the gyre in a 5 mile semicircular path until I was finally free of it. I had been submerged for more than a day before surfacing again, in the Gulf of Finland's gentler waters. Seeking rest upon a rock, I tended to my skin and scales, injured by stones, shells, and swirling sand. My hair emerged tangled in long strands of green, red and brown seaweed.

The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats, 1865-1939

TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

La Casa di Gigi

Tonight, my Italian mermaid friend Michelina listened as I recited this poem as we swam towards the Tuscan shore, near Aquila and it's little town Acqua Pendente. It is a poem that came to me in a dream of being on land. I will do my best to translate it for you:

Vado in Campagna /I'm going to the countryside
Alla casa del mio amico Gigi / To my friend Gigi's house
Per trovare la tranquillita. / In search of tranquillity.

La casa di Gigi / Gigi's house
Sta in fondo nella campagna / is deep in the countryside
Fuori il piccolo centro di / outside the town center of
Acqua Pendente. / Acqua Pendente (Water Fall).

Arrivo da Roma nel paesino, / I arrive from Rome in the little town,
Una straniera. / A foreigner,
Mi sento un oggetto urbano / an urban artifact,
Meno umana della gente di / less human than the people of
Acqua Pendente. / Acqua Pendente.

I rumori qui sono come / The sounds here are like
Una musica strana, / a strange music,
Ma gentile, mi accarrezzano / but gentle, that envelop me
Con una pace totale. / in total peace.

Camminando per la stradina / Walking along the lanes
Il profumo squisito di pane / the exquisite aroma of bread
Mi prende per sorpresa! / takes me by surprise!
Lo compro per portarlo / I buy it to take
Alla casa di Gigi. / to Gigi's house.

Sommersa nel verde splendente / Enveloped in the lush green
Fuori Acqua Pendente / outside Acqua Pendente
Scendo dalla macchina / I get out of my car
In mezzo delle vigne / in the middle of a vineyard
Che sembrano tanto larghe, / seemingly infinite
Da chilometri. / by kilometers.

Chiamo, Gigi, Giigiii! / I yell, "Gigi, Giigiii!"
Perche mi sono persa. / because I am lost.
Persa tra le vigne, / Lost amongst the low vines,
Migliaia di vigne storte, / Millions of twisted vines,
Vigne che crescono di natura libera. / Vines that by nature grow free.

Fa niente che per addesso mi trovo persa. / It means nothing that I am lost for now.
So che Gigi mi rispondera, / I know that Gigi will respond,
Eventualmente. / Eventually.

Piano piano come scende la luna / Slowly, slowly just as the moon descends
In campagna, / in the countryside,
Nella campagna di Acqua Pendente, / in the countryside of Acqua Pendente,
Alla casa di Gigi, / at Gigi's house,
Trovero la strada giusta / I will find the right road
Per arrivare alla contentezza. / to contentedness.

Sotto il sole in campagna, / Under the sun of the countryside,
Nella campagna di Acqua Pendente, / in the countryside of Acqua Pendente,
Alla casa gloriosa di Gigi, / at Gigi's glorious house,
Mangiamo insieme / We eat together,
Pane fresco. / fresh bread.

Nella ciottola di legno, / In the wooden bowl,
I pomodori con basilico. / fresh tomatoes with basil.
I dolci migliori del mondo: / And the best sweets in the world:
Le pere colte daglie alberi. / Pears picked directly from the trees.

Le mangiamo ancora calde, / We eat them still warm,
Profumate. / Aromatic.
Sono arrivata alla casa di Gigi / I've arrived at Gigi's house
E qui mi sento davvero umana. / and here I feel truly human.