Response to "Drowning in Ink"

“Drowning in Ink” is one of the most powerful student poems I have read thus far. It opens up with words such as “stab,” and “dead.” Already, the reader gets a tone of violence and constant danger. The first description of writing on paper took me a few times to understand, but only because it was worded in a way I have never heard- and loved. I will say that I got chills numerous times reading this poem. The italicized sections create a nice break for thoughts as the writing process progresses. The writer is clear about her love and where he is. I finally felt a slight sense of what soldiers’ loved ones feel during deployments. Even the description of the writing process echoes the language of war: “cold missiles,” “unexpected attack,” and “toxic enemy.” I can even imagine myself laying on a bed, feeling lonely, listening to voicemails just to create a temporary high. However, some parts of the poem were confusing to me. The word “christens” makes me imagine a baptism, like the splashing of water (tears) upon a page. I don’t know if this is the effect the poet desired, because there are many different versions of christening. The poem’s progression is amazing- from first sitting down to write, to tears flowing as the speaker does so, and the final product, “tainted/with elegant black/streams of disruption.”