Learning to Breathe Underwater – The Tidalectics of Rukeyser’s “Anemone”

Posted June 15, 2019:

My discussion of Muriel Rukeyser’s poem “Anemone” has been posted to the excellent website Muriel Rukeyser: A Living Archive. I discuss Rukeyser’s poem in relation to the recursive motility of the anemone, as well as the concept of tidalectics, first put forth by Kamau Brathwaite.  I argue that Rukeyser presents embodiment as an experience of sensuality and desire shared in fluid exchange with others.