ISLANDS AND ICEBERGS
(Or, How to Read a Poem)
Ralph Semino Galán
Imagine the paper
on which this poem is written
as an ocean.
Imagine these words
as either islands or icebergs
floating on the surface.
Imagine yourself
as an explorer, a cartographer
of heart and mind.
From the safety
of your imagination’s ship,
what do you see?
A mountain peak;
perhaps a ribbon of smoke
from an old volcano?
A drifting glacier;
a pair of polar bears frolicking
on thin ice?
You ask: Where
is the connection, the link
between each to each?
You ask: Must I hop
from this island to the next,
feeling after feeling?
Or must I move
from one iceberg to the other,
thought after thought?
And I answer,
take a deep breath and dive
into the dead calm.
Taste, feel, smell;
see what was once invisible
listen to the silence --Read again.
Galan, R.S. (2008). On Philippine Literature, Culture and the Arts. Retrieved January 26, 2020,
from http://ralphseminogalan.blogspot.com/2008/06/islands-and-icebergs.html
Directions: Read the poem Islands
and Icebergs by Ralph Semino
Galan then answer the questions
below.
1. What is the theme of the poem?
2. How does the author develop the theme?
3. Why are there three lines in each stanza?
What could be the purpose of the poet in
writing three lines per stanza?
4. Why are icebergs and islands chosen as
images for the poem? In what ways are they
similar?
5. Why is the experience of reading a poem
compared to island-hopping and moving from
one iceberg to another?