There’s so much to be learned from that which floats A patience
from the Gulf of Mexico to a sea of its name sargassum
drifts hand in hand with itself across moleculed drowning Ripples orange
then brown ocean vine climbing buoyant for sunlight
This algae moves as model islands nursing its dwellers pipefish crabs
and nudibranch protecting its young flailing turtles sovereign
from the tips of leaves to the swell and safety of crawlers and hidden
Salt shrub archipelago breeds by fracture but never behaves as such
always watching for myths of dry land and the men who wet for it
like Columbus spearing his foot to find it unfirm unconquerable
yet he is not the invasion Blamed the brined bush on his shoe for a bloom
no longer bound by spiraling currents Now swims
in factory and filth burning waters is wrung to birth and birth
itself onto shores where cruises worry to suffer this forced flowering
let them suffer this flowering Remind us to survive the surge
self-suffice sail the uprise to be islands teach us
to stay afloat to flee the sinking
Author's Note: This poem borrows from, was aided and informed by the pieces “Record-breaking amounts of sargassum in the Caribbean: What is it and where is it coming from?” by Mickey Charteris, published in Caribbean Reef Life Blog and “Masses Of Seaweed Threaten Fisheries And Foul Beaches” by Greg Allen, published in NPR.
****
Sargazo
hay tanto que aprender de aquelle que flota una paciencia
desde el golfo de méxico hasta una mar de su nombre sargazo
va a la deriva de mano en mano consigo mismo a través de ahogo molecular
ondula naranja, luego marrón trepadora oceánica boyante al sol
se desplaza como islas modelo cuidando sus habitantes peces aguja
cangrejos y nudibranquios protegiendo sus crías tortugas aleteando soberana
desde la punta de sus hojas hasta el crecer y asilo de criaturas escurridizas y escondidas
archipiélago de arbusto salino reproduciéndose por fractura sin fracturarse
siempre velando por los mitos de tierra firme y los hombres que salivan por ella
como colón arponeando su pie para encontrarle inestable inconquistable
pero a él no le tildan de invasor culpado el matorral de salmuera en su zapato
por un florecer desatado de corrientes caracolas ahora vadea
entre fábrica y mugre aguas ardientes obligada a parirse y parirse
sobre costas donde cruceros se preocupan por sufrir este retoño forzado
¡que sufran! este retoño recuérdanos sobrevivir la marejada
ser autosuficientes navegar el pleamar ser islas enséñanos
a permanecer a flote a huir del hundimiento
Nota del autor: Este poema coge prestado de y fue informado e inspirado por, “Record-breaking amounts of sargassum in the Caribbean: What is it and where is it coming from?” por Mickey Charteris, publicado en Caribbean Reef Life Blog y “Masses Of Seaweed Threaten Fisheries And Foul Beaches” por Greg Allen, publicado en NPR.
Listen as Ana Portnoy Brimmer readsSargassum in English.
Escuche mientras Ana Portnoy Brimmer leeSargazo en Español.
Added: Tuesday, February 11, 2025 / Used with permission. The English version of the poem originally appeared in "To Love an Island" (YesYes Books, 2021) by Ana Portnoy Brimmer. The Spanish version of the poem originally appeared in "Que tiemble" (La Impresora, 2023) by Ana Portnoy Brimmer.
Photo by Carolina Porras Monroy.
Ana Portnoy Brimmer is a poet and translator from Puerto Rico. To Love an Island, her debut poetry collection, was originally the winner of YesYes Books' 2019 Vinyl 45 Chapbook Contest. Que tiemble, a derivative work of poetry in Spanish, was published with La Impresora in April 2023. Ana is a Hedgebrook Writers-in-Residence Program alumna, was awarded a 2023 MASS MoCA Fellowship for Artists from Puerto Rico, and was named one of Poets & Writers’ 2021 Debut Poets. Her work has been published in The Paris Review, Prairie Schooner, Southeast Review, Society and Space, Sixth Finch, SX Salon, and Aftershocks of Disaster: Puerto Rico Before and After the Storm, among others. Ana is the daughter of Mexican-Jewish immigrants and resides in Puerto Rico.
Image Description: Ana Portnoy Brimmer sits at a desk holding an open book and smiling softly while looking toward the camera. She wears a bright yellow button down shirt, sparkly green earrings, and a gold ring. Behind her is a white wall covered in pink notes, a small queer flag, and flowers.
