I
really loved reading through Jenny Xie’s Eye
Level, as the poetry itself felt light but the meaning dug out a deep basin
underneath it, creating perspective.
And
I believe Eye Level is a collection of
poetry about perspective, about change, about the physicality of sight. But not
just her own perspective but the idea of perspective itself. I really loved the
way the poet sprinkled details in multiple poems about what it means for
something to be eye level, about being able to or not being able to see some thing, has a lot to do with who we
are as people.
In one of the last poems entitled Ongoing, Xie gives us more insight on
perspective in the lines
“She
had trained herself to look for answers at eye level, but they were lower, they
were changing all the time” (Xie 73).
I
loved this line in the poem because it is provocative, I think about changing
perspectives, I think about training and what that means as in social
conditioning almost, and I think about the things underneath my eye level, what
do I have to change for? And even, what does it cost to change?
In Exit, Eve, Xie’s last few lines made the hair on my arms stand up
on end.
“This
flat blaze of furry simplifies me I’ll leave tomorrow traversing side roads Let
everyone see no one paid my way” (Xie 60).
These
lines are striking to me, as we get another play on sight and things within and
outside of it. I love the concept of letting
everyone see! It evokes a certain triumphant feeling.
In Melancholia we get that same working of perspective but on a different
level, where Xie talks about her eye’s mistakes all being “level” (Xie 52).
One
of my favorite breakdowns of the theme of perspective and change and seeing and
conditions is in Visual Orders, in
number 11, Xie goes into the “ancient optic theory” (Xie 48) of the physicality
of seeing something and ends it with the idea that to see something is like a
physical act, a sense that is not only its own but that belongs to so many
others that culminate into a view.
I loved reading this well put
together collection of poems!
"I believe Eye Level is a collection of poetry about perspective, about change, about the physicality of sight. But not just her own perspective but the idea of perspective itself. I really loved the way the poet sprinkled details in multiple poems about what it means for something to be eye level, about being able to or not being able to see some thing, has a lot to do with who we are as people."
ReplyDeleteYES, and I also love how you point out the shared perspective that we may have and not know.
Duane!
ReplyDeleteI feel like your response mirrored Xie's writing so well; with its clear connections and direct examples of theme within the text! You highlight for me, the level (lol) of care that the poet put into stringing these poems together while leaving bits of the thread exposed for us to pick up on and marvel at.
Thank you for another great review and response!
abrazos,
jesi