Post by jillelizabeth on Jan 6, 2019 16:25:29 GMT -5
Thanks to Gerry for rounding out my understanding of this poem.
I saw this as a metaphysical tussle, where " we " the people, you Americans, etc. hang on to our/their reliance on rational thought and our human machinations to solve and rid of us all problems vs an evilness and imbalance ( have and have nots, numbers exceeding the sources of milk ) that will always be present . It is, however imperative to still fight against it. Whew !
Starting off, even her name " Linda " means cute in Spanish. Cute, sweet seem pretty close to me. The mother is declaring her naiveté . The mother states that even though we knew " the ways and means ", we could not prevent the tragedy of the buildings, and says they are still dumbfounded and bereft of narratives - suggesting that is the only explanation to solve a world where some have to much and others so little.
Then " he " evil or the Devil, I would say, answers her and mocks the " sweet " - the goodness or Spirit.
I think by saying Americans have never auto-corrected is two-fold; that we keep thinking we can so easily solve our problems/fight evil through our intellect but also that goodness, sweetness still is alive in the world and we know it, later , as the poet describes with the metaphor of the possum.
" Our possum " , our goodness can survive despite the evil that pursist ( a possum ventures out into daylight, being on the edge, breaking through snow ). We have to be vigilant - " safety's look-alike " and strong. There is hope, there is shelter within the " double-wombed ". But, also, alluding to the danger of evil right beside us, growing up within us all from the womb.
" He " this evil is at the Queen's maidenhood, a woman's virginity is no longer sacred like Mother Mary- reference to original sin, perhaps ?
Then the evil is in the powerful but Goodness, Sweetness is there as well " guides her blind.."" by licking a path " . Resourcefulness, hard work as well.
Are the eyes those of God, or an angel in " Another pair of eyes above her shoulder " ? There is a concept before thought, within spirit, I would argue, " the place construed as yet-to-be-written-upon-by-us " Much is beyond our control or ability to intellectualize or rationalize.
The poem ends with " had we possessed the wit to see " meaning that in our minds always are thinking, we can " think " our way out of tragedy. Perhaps, we can't stop the inevitable, the evil, the " bringer-of-harm.
I saw this as a metaphysical tussle, where " we " the people, you Americans, etc. hang on to our/their reliance on rational thought and our human machinations to solve and rid of us all problems vs an evilness and imbalance ( have and have nots, numbers exceeding the sources of milk ) that will always be present . It is, however imperative to still fight against it. Whew !
Starting off, even her name " Linda " means cute in Spanish. Cute, sweet seem pretty close to me. The mother is declaring her naiveté . The mother states that even though we knew " the ways and means ", we could not prevent the tragedy of the buildings, and says they are still dumbfounded and bereft of narratives - suggesting that is the only explanation to solve a world where some have to much and others so little.
Then " he " evil or the Devil, I would say, answers her and mocks the " sweet " - the goodness or Spirit.
I think by saying Americans have never auto-corrected is two-fold; that we keep thinking we can so easily solve our problems/fight evil through our intellect but also that goodness, sweetness still is alive in the world and we know it, later , as the poet describes with the metaphor of the possum.
" Our possum " , our goodness can survive despite the evil that pursist ( a possum ventures out into daylight, being on the edge, breaking through snow ). We have to be vigilant - " safety's look-alike " and strong. There is hope, there is shelter within the " double-wombed ". But, also, alluding to the danger of evil right beside us, growing up within us all from the womb.
" He " this evil is at the Queen's maidenhood, a woman's virginity is no longer sacred like Mother Mary- reference to original sin, perhaps ?
Then the evil is in the powerful but Goodness, Sweetness is there as well " guides her blind.."" by licking a path " . Resourcefulness, hard work as well.
Are the eyes those of God, or an angel in " Another pair of eyes above her shoulder " ? There is a concept before thought, within spirit, I would argue, " the place construed as yet-to-be-written-upon-by-us " Much is beyond our control or ability to intellectualize or rationalize.
The poem ends with " had we possessed the wit to see " meaning that in our minds always are thinking, we can " think " our way out of tragedy. Perhaps, we can't stop the inevitable, the evil, the " bringer-of-harm.
