What caught me first was “Frightening in their joy, their bulimia”. The comparison between joy and bulimia- it’s raw. I feel lost in trying to explain the weight of this work. It feels heavy, it applies pressure so much like a baby does within the womb. As it progresses through the sections, we are moved through birth. It pulses, like a heartbeat, and tears.
The thirds section feels like an afterbirth. There is sunrise, a phantom new beginning. But the monster is still there, the "The creature is my echo and my future". So there really is no escape from the original violence that is described in the first section.
Rhetorically, the most prominent device, for me, is the alliteration. It propels the poem forward, with examples in "extracted enamel", and "bronze birds". More so, it speaks to Marriot's twins. There is no real beginning and end to each, maybe they are one in the same. There is a presence of a double, but the poem leads around it- it is a twin or monster?
The poem itself is the pulsing chasm.
Rhetorically, the most prominent device, for me, is the alliteration. It propels the poem forward, with examples in "extracted enamel", and "bronze birds". More so, it speaks to Marriot's twins. There is no real beginning and end to each, maybe they are one in the same. There is a presence of a double, but the poem leads around it- it is a twin or monster?
The poem itself is the pulsing chasm.
I also felt that I was thrown around everywhere in this poem. It had a lot of oppositions with the birth and the destruction, the coloring of yellow and then black, the now and the future. There was so much to unpack there as with the contrast of the line you pointed out with the words "joy" and "bulimia" strung together.
ReplyDeleteThe connections you make between the language in the poem and the physical feelings it evokes is amazing. What also fascinates me is the economy of language that D.S. Marriott uses. The poem itself is lengthy but the specific words her uses are vivid and very precisely placed. It creates a narrative that is indigestible but it is meant to be that way. It almost feel wrong trying to analyze this piece, I don't know if you felt the same way. It felt awkward for me analyzing because I don't believe this poem is meant to be understood but rather felt.
ReplyDeleteKimani, this is a very exciting reflection on your experience with the poem. I appreciate the instances where you pull out language and show the frightening nature of the imagery. Good job elmaz
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