Poets and Poems: Paulette Guerin and "Wading through Lethe"

In Greek mythology, five rivers flowed through Hades, the underworld. The Rover Styx was the boundary between Earth and Hades. Phlegethon was the river of fire. Cocytus was the river of lamentation. Acheron was the river of sorrow. And the river forming the boundary with Elysium was Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, which flowed through the cave of Hypnos, the god of sleep. To drink of the River Lethe was to experience forgetfulness, perhaps the final step toward death. 

Poet Paulette Guerin doesn’t want to forget. She uses the Greek myth in her new collection, Wading through Lethe, to remember her family, her childhood, visits to relatives, the hurricane party in her college dorm, travels to Europe as an exchange student and vacations in the U.S., and even cleaning out the attic. She wades through the River Lethe but doesn’t drink of its forgetfulness. She may be stirring its waters, but she’s consciously doing so to not forget the experiences and people which have shaper and life and herself.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.