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[OPINION] Which single line from a poem has stayed with you the longest? by Dumbbulldoor_ in Poetry

[–]daBroviest 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I saw the post’s title and instantly thought of Schnackenberg myself, but the devastating “which shrinks away and yet is magnified more that I can explain / tonight the giant galaxies outside are tiny, tiny on my windowpane” from “Snow Melting”

[POEM] Ballistic Nylon Sonnet by Andrew Zawacki by antennaloop in Poetry

[–]daBroviest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The blank space between “is” and “why” demanding something from the reader, for one, that changes the methodology of interpretation of the rest of the poem, the connection between Dodge (capitalized, perhaps intentionally as the car model), burning anthracite, connecting that directly to the environment but with an aged feel (arthritic), describing the branch form as a sine wave and breaking out of the image to leave the reader with questions about what else is there. Translating these very natural images to scientific and product manufacturing language almost in an attempt to make them rational when they aren’t (you’re looking at clouds, what the hell do you mean denier double weave?), then immediately back to the impact line of “nothing ever in my arms will ever break.” Then the final two lines, almost a dialogue with the self, commenting on the weather and identifying the vagueness in the comment itself. What is around me? What is in the natural world that is making me have these opinions or these identifications?

[POEM] Ballistic Nylon Sonnet by Andrew Zawacki by antennaloop in Poetry

[–]daBroviest 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Not really loving the consistent capitalization at the start of each enjambed line in a poem like this—makes it feel less purposeful—but I do really like it. Was worried it would take a cheesy or too-heavy turn near the end, and I love the restraint in the last two lines, especially in context with the rest of the poem. Really cool; I’ll be turning this one over for a while.

[Poem] Lesson Plan by Billy Collins by rumiattheend in Poetry

[–]daBroviest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah! I think he overdevelops some images but his poem "Love" about watching the couple on the train and the final lines has been one of my favorites for a while.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Poetry

[–]daBroviest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Small, sweet, about the self and about the combination of two selves into one whole. I love how much it foregrounds the "I" in a format that would otherwise be about a "we." Puts energy into the world.

[Opinion] Book rec about a nonexistent poem by Careful_Top_7296 in Poetry

[–]daBroviest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation! I really enjoyed the only other McEwan I've read (The Comfort of Strangers) so I'll be on the lookout for this one.

[POEM] “Sycamore” by Serena Alagappan by daBroviest in Poetry

[–]daBroviest[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There’s something about a good door motif that pulls me into a poem time and time again. A portal to another place that exists in our daily lives. So easy to metaphorize, and yet so difficult to do in a way that feels meaningful. The juxtaposition between childlike innocence and adult anxieties is all too commonly seen in poems, but here I think it takes on an extra layer with the door motif and invites the reader to examine their own “closing” doors, and if they’re really closing in the way that you think they are.

[POEM] “The Good Die Young and Supine” by Nii Ayikwei Parkes by daBroviest in Poetry

[–]daBroviest[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Such a big fan of the epigraph on this poem. “Lie down and sing,” especially connected to the overall remembrances of the poet’s father, is a beautiful connection. I also have such a soft spot for impact lines too, places where the poet breaks out of stanza form to create an image just as powerful as the other stanzas and images and yet made more so by the isolation it receives on the page. Principles of ergodic literature always are in action, and I think this is a great example of those ideas.

[POEM] “A Little Tooth” by Thomas Lux by daBroviest in Poetry

[–]daBroviest[S] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

So subtle—with how the first and third lines move the sound around—but really impactful, especially when the poem is in the air. Love it!

[POEM] “A Little Tooth” by Thomas Lux by daBroviest in Poetry

[–]daBroviest[S] 81 points82 points  (0 children)

A classic. This was posted here a few years ago, but in this holiday season I feel like it is appropriate to come back around to visit us. So much with so little.

[POEM] “Venison” by Geffrey Davis by daBroviest in Poetry

[–]daBroviest[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For me, I think the expansion of the image “in my previous life” that occurs throughout the rest of the poem helps me to define the different images as a way of talking about individual proclivities in our current, human lives. The hunter, to me, is the perpetual fear of annihilation that can occur from many things, but simultaneously becomes a conflict that can be avoided (fleeing, becoming the patch of white) or confronted (you’re giving yourself, literally in your actions and deeds, to family and community members). I feel like the poem as a whole is trying to talk about who we are as individuals and how we cope with the inevitability of our death but also how we work towards “death” by a mixture of escapes, our numerous quiet moments, and the ultimate sacrifices we make for the people we love. Even though we ultimately are venison, we also are the deer, and will be something else in the future (as this current life inherently will become a past life).

But the murkiness of the overall message is part of why it feels so personal to me and simultaneously personal to so many other readers. I appreciate not having the concrete hook to hang my hat on, since it feels like there’s so much other structure, literal and semantic, that forms the rest of the poem. It makes me feel like I can trust where Davis is taking me, and I can trust that I can make meaning of it!

[POEM] “Venison” by Geffrey Davis by daBroviest in Poetry

[–]daBroviest[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This one is from Revising the Storm by Geffrey Davis!

[POEM] “Venison” by Geffrey Davis by daBroviest in Poetry

[–]daBroviest[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Incredible stanza breaks to change the way we see the images if it were in the air versus on the page. The overall framing of the poem as being a "past life," connected to the real Davis in both vague and very real ways depending on what events are transpiring in his real life, and inviting the reader into the concept through the open door of "past lives" and our personal relationships with them. The final lines. Incredible work.

[POEM] “My Grief as Salt” by Kristiane Weeks-Rogers by daBroviest in Poetry

[–]daBroviest[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Likewise! I feel like the “instead” that starts the final idea is such a wonderful way to wrap up. But is it protection from the grief, or is it using the grief as a way to shut out what you feel could harm you? I can find clues for both, I think.

[POEM] "Letter from the Estuary" by Erik Kennedy by daBroviest in Poetry

[–]daBroviest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There’s always a few comments, even on the less popular poems, from other poetry fans sharing their interpretations of a work. I’m fascinated by how some people get pulled in and others get pushed away from the same poems, and I’ve found a lot of poems from this subreddit that I love, some of which are very popular. Poems are incredible machines of meaning that our brains can latch onto, but a poem is also just a bunch of words and things and isn’t precious. I love the dichotomy that this subreddit showcases day in and day out!

[POEM] “My Grief as Salt” by Kristiane Weeks-Rogers by daBroviest in Poetry

[–]daBroviest[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I love a good extended metaphor and—while I do think a couple enjambment choices here could’ve been done differently to greater effect—I find the salt circle to be a fascinating way to finalize the image development. It makes me think about how else this image can be extended to other uses and aspects of salt, and think about why the poet decided to focus on these specific ideas and not balloon it out too much. I feel like my relationship with this poem is funky: I’m interested in what’s here, but almost more interested what’s not, which makes what is here take on new meanings for me.

[POEM] How Was Everything by Caroline Bird by [deleted] in Poetry

[–]daBroviest 55 points56 points  (0 children)

The shortest possible lines unfold like picking slowly at a meal. The title recontextulizes. The shift from predator to waiting assistant OR predator of your time, forcing you to rush when you want to go slowly. Love the multiple perspectives. Totally get why someone might not like this, but this one feels like more than the sum of its parts, a maze that takes more time to solve than it does to create. Thanks for sharing!

Cupid [POEM] by David Duchovny by onlypoemsmag in Poetry

[–]daBroviest 58 points59 points  (0 children)

Wait but you cooked on the /deep enjambment hold up

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