Our Guilt for Living
We are left with a world of isolation:
the fragmentation of our hearts
is a dirty mirror smashed.
Reflected in that mirror
was a face like ghost-something,
who sung a dirge for life itself.
Cadances slow and monumental
like a burnéd toast.
From one mind to another-
though remote from each,
we deliminate our hearts.
The spark in me, in you,
muddied over with calumny-
calumny - that eternal word.
We give offerings to life
and hold back life itself.
The gesture itself signifies
(a bug flying through the air).
Bitter and burning we walk
consoling ourselves with religion
(an alternative for love).
[I wrote this in my 20th century literature class, mixing in quotes from the professor with my own words... the original was much longer than what I have here.}
the fragmentation of our hearts
is a dirty mirror smashed.
Reflected in that mirror
was a face like ghost-something,
who sung a dirge for life itself.
Cadances slow and monumental
like a burnéd toast.
From one mind to another-
though remote from each,
we deliminate our hearts.
The spark in me, in you,
muddied over with calumny-
calumny - that eternal word.
We give offerings to life
and hold back life itself.
The gesture itself signifies
(a bug flying through the air).
Bitter and burning we walk
consoling ourselves with religion
(an alternative for love).
[I wrote this in my 20th century literature class, mixing in quotes from the professor with my own words... the original was much longer than what I have here.}
posted by Jackie | 8:00 PM
3 Comments:
The second and last stanza have me thinking about something.
I like that we walk "bitter and burning" and that religion is the alternative to love. I feel as though the whole poem is about religion or the sadness of religious living. ?
I cannot tell which lines were those spoken by your Professor and which ones are your own!
I really enjoyed.
I like your interpretation, Jenny. As for slow-talker, I would like to know what it has you thinking about! You know, my professors always say that poetry is great because there are always multiple meanings you take from it. I like to think sometimes that a poem has one main thing that it is about with nuances in between, but I guess this poem is an example of one that might have been following a specific emotion, but which doesn't have a specific content. The religious motif is obviously specific and I think it could be extended to the rest of the poem as well, but perhaps it is also the coda after which the trauma of the first and second stanzas resolves itself.
Thank you so much, even the smallest comments make me happy!
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