The Raft of the Medusa
by Loukya Balasuriya, Melbourne Girls Grammar
Years 9 – 10 Written Poetry Finalist
you sleep through this as you sleep
through all things
my siren song, the last gleanings
of a summer spent with the elect,
drinking their marrow, tossing
their guts to the salt waves
like so many pieces of sharp and savage timber.
oh, tie yourselves to the masts of
your broken ships. and i will be
the gale that forces those ropes apart.
but i cannot sing your apathy to death.
i cannot tread wine out of rotten grapes.
you sleep through this as well
as you sleep, world without end-
the wretched lumber
barring us from all sides,
crushing your sleep-beating heart.
oh, string yourself together
like the raft of the Medusa.
am i not beautiful enough
to turn all of you into stone?
the death-bell knells
sullen in these dark seas.
my gorgon sister cannot steer us to safety.
sacrificial lambs are brought kicking
to the altar,
but i cannot even wake you
for the slaughter.
i cannot make elixirs from the rotten peaches of heaven.
while you sleep the sleep eternal
my hands are cracked
and sore as your bleached ribcage
oh, give me a lion skin and a club.
i will shoot these albatrosses,
these stymphalian birds,
who steal the flesh off your carcass
without allowing me a single morsel.
but i cannot bring you back to life.
i cannot disavow myself a feast
of the golden apples of the hesperides.
How did writing this poem make you feel?
A bit existential, and curious.
Which single line in your poem are you the absolute proudest of?
That’s a hard question with all the enjambment… I would say the line of my poem that I am the most proud of is ‘I cannot make elixirs out of the rotten peaches of heaven’ because it I think it captures my voice the most and also relates to this year’s theme of fruit!
Describe your poem in three words
visceral, stormy, restless.
Where is your absolute favourite place to sit when you are brainstorming ideas?
Often I don’t sit to brainstorm ideas, I just collate lines that appear in my brain at inconvenient times. For example I thought of the first line of ‘The Raft of the Medusa’ when I was at the train station. And then later I expand on fragments, often unrelated.
Why do you think people write poetry?
I think people write poetry to inhabit and expand something fleeting, a moment or an idea or a feeling.