Review of STEPHEN ACKERMAN’s poem ‘While Another Dove Nude into the Breakers’

Review of STEPHEN ACKERMAN’s poem ‘While Another Dove Nude into the Breakers’ I request the readers to read the poem ‘While Another Dove Nude into the Breakers’ from the link https://plumepoetry.com/while-another-dove-nude-into-the-breakers/ and then only my review. Irrespective of a creator’s experience, eminence or the recognition and awards he has won (or of a creator who may never go near all these), the works reveal clearly how far he/she enjoyed the creative process and how far was one with the scene or backdrop highlighted in the work. The strength of this poem is poet Ackerman is himself lost in the banks of Mississippi in the city of Memphis (in the state of Tennessee, USA) when summer sets in. Be it Sunrise or Sunset or change of seasons, or the green and rivers of nature, any poet pens a picture to the best of creativity and artistic observation. The other striking feature of the poem is the reader swaps between the revelers on the banks of the river and the natural scenario along with the poet in each stanza. The concluding parts of the poem open up a new window for the reader to ponder and creatively explore further: Two men loved a woman who grew her hair long even in summer One watched in a fever of desire watched her lean by the river Watched her take water from the river that she poured from beaker to beaker As she poured her love from one glass into another From lover to lover During a travel the stress and rigor of the routine of home and work both give way for a liberated outlook to life and the surroundings. We smile at and talk to strangers while on tour, because our minds are relaxed and we go forward involuntarily. Similarly a woman looks more beautiful in a tourist spot because she is relaxed and her face reflects the happiness and feel of freedom within. A simple action of pouring water from one glass to another might look like her neutrally appreciating both men’s beautiful feelings for her. When weather is friendly to your freedom to move and explore within is as beautiful as outer world (the riverbank or beach or hills in a friendly weather). Probably, the poet points subtly to the power of freedom which is sought by an individual for who the fellow being’s freedom is a nonissue. Our society and the peers or neighbours or members of the family any of them or all of them would be far more beautiful and attractive and lovable if they breath freedom. The poet has enjoyed sharing all he loved about his town’s riverbank and has made the concluding part thought provoking, which is the distinction of the genre poetry.