So great! Poems are this are why I love prose poems, such great movement and connection among various thoughts/experiences that feels so true to human experience.
every once in a while I read a poem that I can’t just stay still about it. This is one. Richard Siken, thank you, especially for the ending here. It’s so good for me to read that which is so refreshingly real. Here, sure, real about the speaker, I imagine , but to me, also the reader, those of us with bullseyes in our eyes. I hope one day I I get the privilege to meet you, Richard, and if I do, I promise to never ever ask about your most influential poets! lol. What interview, too. OP, Karan/Richard, thank you
I’ve read the other 8 also. Siken is a powerful writer with an extraordinary chaos of images and observations. The images rumble onto the page like bumper cars. Good job!!
I'm normally not a prose poem fan, but this one is really good. My read of this poem is, the speaker is projecting their own faults and flaws onto the kid. They don't want to 'see' the kid's failings bc that would mean they have to confront their own failings. Great fiction is filled with flawed protagonists, but there aren't enough flawed speakers in poetry. Really brave poem. Thanks for sharing
Empathy is exactly what is missing from this poem (in my opinion). And make no mistake—I have been in this place, even dramatically so, but the lesson that I learned was, in fact, empathy— that I am a part of a whole. So, yes, I understand exactly what he’s saying, but I refuse to bless it as the final word. And perhaps it is the right thing for others in a similar situation to read, understanding that they do have to reject his choices in the moment…embracing despair is dangerous and even fatal place to be. Thanks for your response—it’s certainly a difficult place for anyone to find themselves in.
I’m afraid I don’t agree. I love kids, dogs, and also depressed people going through trauma and pain. But, unfortunately, if this story is real – or even if it’s a parable – the solution here is to do exactly what he refuses to do. There is no road to recovery that leads through self-pity and rejection of life around you. This is a formula for more trauma and pain. Sorry, but that is just sad…
I think of poems as empathy devices — and this one allows me to inhabit the speaker's depression. It seems to me that he is coming to an awareness of his own despondency and perhaps, just perhaps, at the end, he has identified a way out.
So great! Poems are this are why I love prose poems, such great movement and connection among various thoughts/experiences that feels so true to human experience.
every once in a while I read a poem that I can’t just stay still about it. This is one. Richard Siken, thank you, especially for the ending here. It’s so good for me to read that which is so refreshingly real. Here, sure, real about the speaker, I imagine , but to me, also the reader, those of us with bullseyes in our eyes. I hope one day I I get the privilege to meet you, Richard, and if I do, I promise to never ever ask about your most influential poets! lol. What interview, too. OP, Karan/Richard, thank you
I’ve read the other 8 also. Siken is a powerful writer with an extraordinary chaos of images and observations. The images rumble onto the page like bumper cars. Good job!!
I'm normally not a prose poem fan, but this one is really good. My read of this poem is, the speaker is projecting their own faults and flaws onto the kid. They don't want to 'see' the kid's failings bc that would mean they have to confront their own failings. Great fiction is filled with flawed protagonists, but there aren't enough flawed speakers in poetry. Really brave poem. Thanks for sharing
Empathy is exactly what is missing from this poem (in my opinion). And make no mistake—I have been in this place, even dramatically so, but the lesson that I learned was, in fact, empathy— that I am a part of a whole. So, yes, I understand exactly what he’s saying, but I refuse to bless it as the final word. And perhaps it is the right thing for others in a similar situation to read, understanding that they do have to reject his choices in the moment…embracing despair is dangerous and even fatal place to be. Thanks for your response—it’s certainly a difficult place for anyone to find themselves in.
I’m afraid I don’t agree. I love kids, dogs, and also depressed people going through trauma and pain. But, unfortunately, if this story is real – or even if it’s a parable – the solution here is to do exactly what he refuses to do. There is no road to recovery that leads through self-pity and rejection of life around you. This is a formula for more trauma and pain. Sorry, but that is just sad…
I think of poems as empathy devices — and this one allows me to inhabit the speaker's depression. It seems to me that he is coming to an awareness of his own despondency and perhaps, just perhaps, at the end, he has identified a way out.
This is a wonderful and chaotic tumble into the author’s life, and I ate up every crumb. Delightful.
Oh, I love this wreck of a poem. The ending feels like just the beginning-so many blanks left for me to fill in. Thanks for sharing.