Joseph S. Salemi’s poetry often delves into the fascinating intersection of classical mythology and artistic creation. Two poems, “Isolde and the Men of Stone” and “Demetrius, Maker of Gods, Recounts a Conversation with Saint Paul,” beautifully illustrate this thematic preoccupation, exploring the act of imbuing inanimate material with divine or human essence. This exploration raises intriguing questions about the nature of creation, belief, and the enduring power of ancient myths in the modern world.
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Isolde’s Earthly Resurrection
“Isolde and the Men of Stone” opens with a quote from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, setting the stage for a reimagining of the myth of Deucalion and Pyrrha, who repopulated the earth by throwing stones over their shoulders. Salemi’s Isolde, however, engages in a different kind of creation. She collects the remnants of what might be considered Deucalion’s work – fragments of stone resembling body parts – and curates them in her garden. This act transforms her into a collector of potential life, piecing together fragments of a forgotten past.
The poem’s language is rich with geological imagery: “Quartz flesh veined with feldspar, agate eyes,/Sandstone hands…”. These descriptions emphasize the materiality of the stones, contrasting them with the life Isolde imagines they could hold. The “lump of jasper swirled with twining dendrites” representing the brain hints at the complexity of thought and consciousness, while the “perfect piece/Of variegated onyx, like a heart” evokes the emotional core of being.
Isolde’s garden becomes a space where the boundary between inanimate and animate blurs. The “open wound” of the excavated earth is healed by weeds, while Isolde cultivates her stone collection. This juxtaposition suggests a cycle of creation and regeneration, with Isolde participating in a unique form of rebirth using the remnants of a mythical past. Her act of collecting and arranging imbues these stones with a new significance, transforming them from geological specimens into potential beings.
A Dialogue of Gods and Belief
“Demetrius, Maker of Gods, Recounts a Conversation with Saint Paul” offers a different perspective on the creation of divine figures. Here, the focus shifts from found objects to crafted artistry. Demetrius, a sculptor, presents his meticulously crafted gods to Saint Paul, highlighting their beauty and the divine essence he believes he has captured within the stone.
The poem unfolds as a dramatic monologue, with Demetrius showcasing his pantheon: “Aphrodite shaped in alabaster,” “Thoth in black obsidian,” “Osiris carved in porphyry”. Each god is rendered in a specific stone, the material chosen to reflect their attributes and symbolic significance. This meticulous detail underscores Demetrius’s reverence for the gods and his skill in capturing their essence.
Demetrius’s passionate defense of his craft contrasts sharply with Paul’s dismissal of it as idolatry. Paul’s mention of “an altar to THE UNKNOWN GOD” introduces a theological challenge to Demetrius’s polytheistic worldview. The poem ends with Demetrius’s ironic question: “An altar of what precious stone?” This question subtly highlights the enduring tension between faith and artistic representation, leaving the reader to ponder the nature of belief and the power of human creation.
The Enduring Power of Myth and Material
Both poems explore the act of creating meaning through interaction with physical materials. Isolde finds potential life in the earth’s remnants, while Demetrius imbues stone with divine presence. Their actions, rooted in classical mythology, reflect the human desire to understand the world and our place within it, highlighting the enduring power of myth and the ongoing dialogue between artistic creation and spiritual belief. Salemi’s masterful use of language and imagery invites us to contemplate the complex relationship between the material and the spiritual, the human and the divine.