Whale on the Line by Nuala Archer

The body is a central trope in Archer’s work. Fearlessly, she explores the sense of exile that results from physical trauma. For example, in “The Deviant Mantis” (from Whale on the Line) she assumes the persona of a praying mantis decapitated by a mate: “I found I can function / without a brain. I have / other nerve centres. / Stories come to me / through my toes. / My wings are transparent antennae.” At the end of the poem, the mantis declares, “I hear strange news / from all over the world.” With this brilliant shift, Archer transforms the mantis’s apparent “handicap” into a gift for insight and communication. Having lived in Panama, Ireland, and in many regions of North, Central, and South America, Archer, like the mantis, is attuned to many countries and communities. Her poems reflect this “internationalist” perspective as well as her struggle to feel grounded in the world. Just as the mantis must adapt to its new state, so must the poet tell her stories despite social interdictions against rootlessness and sexual deviance.~ Robin Becker