Post by Jimmy on Jan 7, 2019 22:49:17 GMT -5
I was initially drawn to the music of this poem which is really accentuated by the line breaks. Even ordinary, unpowerful words play important roles in the sound of this poem: “Our possum — she must be hungry or / she wouldnt venture out in so.” Orphaning “or” makes it read as part of hungry and gives that word a whole new sound, like hungrier. In the next line, “out in so” reads like it is almost one word, its own new word. I found this sort of rhythmic play pleasureable throughout the poem.
I found myself having to almost re-write parts of this poem in my own words to even figure out the syntax. I did this for the first sentence and even still did not get that the italics when read together were the complete mother’s sentence.
While I got that the poem is an affirmation of hope, I completely mis-read the possum metaphor. I think because it is set up in opposition — “you” Americans is followed immediately in the next line by “our” possum — I thought the possum was a metaphor for people who are not American, even possibly for jihadists, although I couldn’t find that ultimately to be supported by the poem. Now from Gerry’s notes I see the obvious clues of republic and virginiana. While I agree the possum is at least partially the 13 colonies, I am still very confused by the metaphor’s set up as “other” to America. That the possum could signify more than just that seems to me supported by the line about “construed as yet to be written upon by us.” Again, the “us” makes me think of others to America, others who perhaps have been unwelcome. I think the possum might be a metaphor for an amalgam of ideas - maybe it stands for the “innocent” (really??) 13 colonies as well as present day outsiders or immigrants. Maybe it means humanity in general which would tie back to the very high-level general outlook of “the world / has never self-corrected.”
Then there is the great mystery of the “He.” Is it the same “he” who is speaking through most of the poem? Is it another whom that “he” recognizes? Is it literally “He” meaning man and not woman (which would play into Karen’s suggestion about the poem)? On first read, I thought it was Bin Laden and it may want to make us think that but my instinct is that the villain of this poem is some idea or series of actors bigger than just Bin Laden. Is the “he” even a villain? The tone does seem to set it up as so. The word “supposed” in the prior line opens the suggestion that maybe this maidenhead virginity was not realized or able to be preserved for long. This thought followed by the “he” being clever and walking among the powerful make those facts seem sinister.
I’m not sure there are any definite answers to these questions but I’m OK with that. One of this poem’s strengths for me is that fact that its ambiguity is large enough to hold several shades and interesting combinations of meaning. I even thought the male speaker in the poem might be God - I had a hard time thinking of who else’s heart outside America could be broken by America. It would be pretty sinister to suppose God is proclaiming that we’re on an unstoppable fatalistic path. The voice of that speaker in that instant reminds me of a madman who has kidnapped the lover who wouldnt return his affection. Could the speaker be an amalgam of God and a terrorist? I realize that sounds pretty off the rails and I’m not at all sure I believe it myself. But the poem is making me ask that question.
I found myself having to almost re-write parts of this poem in my own words to even figure out the syntax. I did this for the first sentence and even still did not get that the italics when read together were the complete mother’s sentence.
While I got that the poem is an affirmation of hope, I completely mis-read the possum metaphor. I think because it is set up in opposition — “you” Americans is followed immediately in the next line by “our” possum — I thought the possum was a metaphor for people who are not American, even possibly for jihadists, although I couldn’t find that ultimately to be supported by the poem. Now from Gerry’s notes I see the obvious clues of republic and virginiana. While I agree the possum is at least partially the 13 colonies, I am still very confused by the metaphor’s set up as “other” to America. That the possum could signify more than just that seems to me supported by the line about “construed as yet to be written upon by us.” Again, the “us” makes me think of others to America, others who perhaps have been unwelcome. I think the possum might be a metaphor for an amalgam of ideas - maybe it stands for the “innocent” (really??) 13 colonies as well as present day outsiders or immigrants. Maybe it means humanity in general which would tie back to the very high-level general outlook of “the world / has never self-corrected.”
Then there is the great mystery of the “He.” Is it the same “he” who is speaking through most of the poem? Is it another whom that “he” recognizes? Is it literally “He” meaning man and not woman (which would play into Karen’s suggestion about the poem)? On first read, I thought it was Bin Laden and it may want to make us think that but my instinct is that the villain of this poem is some idea or series of actors bigger than just Bin Laden. Is the “he” even a villain? The tone does seem to set it up as so. The word “supposed” in the prior line opens the suggestion that maybe this maidenhead virginity was not realized or able to be preserved for long. This thought followed by the “he” being clever and walking among the powerful make those facts seem sinister.
I’m not sure there are any definite answers to these questions but I’m OK with that. One of this poem’s strengths for me is that fact that its ambiguity is large enough to hold several shades and interesting combinations of meaning. I even thought the male speaker in the poem might be God - I had a hard time thinking of who else’s heart outside America could be broken by America. It would be pretty sinister to suppose God is proclaiming that we’re on an unstoppable fatalistic path. The voice of that speaker in that instant reminds me of a madman who has kidnapped the lover who wouldnt return his affection. Could the speaker be an amalgam of God and a terrorist? I realize that sounds pretty off the rails and I’m not at all sure I believe it myself. But the poem is making me ask that question.
