Choose the negative space,
And focus on what is filled:
Either the knobby vase,
Knuckled, architectural,
Or the faces in profile,
Twins or reflections.
The failing daylight
On the last day of August
Or the almond-shaped
Shadows of leaves
Smudging the walkway
Like thumbprints.
The endless options that fill
Our lives--channels,
Cuisines, products
Ready to solve our needs.
Can you flip this scene
And see what these obscure?
Hunger, the desire to clean,
To control our neck
Of the woods, the anxiety
That hovers above our choices.
The anxiety that hovers above our choices.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I am known to do, I suppose, is to point out individual lines I especially like. It's even better if that line is the opening or close of a poem. This one drives the poem home.
I have a poem I just wrote where I tried, in some ways, to achieve this same idea or emotion, and I wish I had said it so succinctly.
I love this poem. and I agree, the last line is so beautifully put.
ReplyDeleteand i really love the phrasing/spacing of the lines before:
"Hunger, the desire to clean,
To control our neck
Of the woods..."
the whole poem captures the feeling perfectly.