Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Alicia Suskin Ostriker's poem "The Exchange" delves into the unsettling, surreal, and deeply psychological terrain of identity, power, and desire. The poem, which unfolds through a narrative of a woman’s encounter with a mysterious figure beneath the surface of a canal, explores the darker recesses of the self and the latent tensions that exist within domestic life.

The poem opens with the speaker observing "a woman swim below the surface / Of the canal." This woman is not ordinary; her body is "opalescent," shimmering with an almost otherworldly quality, and her "black hair wavering / Like weeds" adds to her eerie, aquatic presence. The fact that she "does not need to breathe" and "faces / Upward" suggests that she is not bound by the same physical limitations as the speaker, giving her an ethereal, almost mythical aspect. This figure seems to exist in a liminal space, between life and death, reality and fantasy.

The speaker, situated in a "rented canoe" with her children, feels a strange connection to this underwater woman. The idyllic scene above the surface, with "sweet, thick, white" locust blossoms and a "redwing blackbird" flying across the water, contrasts sharply with the unsettling presence beneath it. The woman in the canal embodies a hidden, perhaps repressed aspect of the speaker's own psyche, one that is powerful, untethered, and potentially dangerous.

As the poem progresses, the speaker imagines a terrifying exchange between herself and the woman below. If the speaker were to "dive down" or if the woman were to "climb into the boat," a horrific transformation would occur. The speaker envisions the woman "strangl[ing] my children / And throw[ing] their limp bodies into the stream." This violent fantasy reveals the speaker’s deep-seated fears—perhaps of losing control, of being consumed by her own darker impulses, or of the destructive potential within her. The imagined scenario continues as the woman, "wet, wordless," would take over the speaker’s life, driving her car, and confronting her husband.

The imagery here is visceral and disturbing: the "magnificent naked woman" is described in a way that mixes beauty with menace, "bits of sunlight / Glittering on her pubic fur," her "muscular / Arm" poised to enact revenge. The reference to her arm encircling the husband’s neck "once for each insult / Endured" suggests that this figure is an embodiment of suppressed rage or unacknowledged resentment, particularly within the context of marriage and domestic life.

The blackbird imagery reappears in the "blackbird in her eye," reinforcing the idea that this woman carries within her the wildness and freedom associated with nature, yet also a darkness that is tied to the speaker’s own inner world. Her "drying mouth incapable of speech" indicates that this transformation, this exchange, would leave the woman mute, her power reduced to physicality and action rather than communication.

The final lines of the poem bring the unsettling fantasy to a close, with the speaker imagining herself having "exchanged with her," now swimming away "in the cool water, out of reach." This suggests a desire to escape from the constraints of her current life, to submerge herself in a world where she is free from responsibility and the expectations placed upon her. The water, representing both a physical and psychological boundary, becomes a medium of transformation and liberation.

"The Exchange" is a complex exploration of identity, with the canal serving as a metaphor for the subconscious. The woman beneath the water may be seen as an alter ego or a manifestation of the speaker’s repressed desires and fears. The poem taps into themes of power, control, and the dualities within the self—the tension between the domestic and the wild, the restrained and the unleashed. Through its vivid and unsettling imagery, the poem invites readers to contemplate the darker aspects of the self and the sometimes terrifying possibilities that lie just beneath the surface of everyday life.

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