Original poem reprinted online here: "Morning Song" by Sawako Nakayasu
Originally read: February 4, 2013
The poem plays on tempo. Yes, there's the beginning where the focus is on the "equation" aspect of the poem and how, mathematically, the lines and words mold together like:
far cry
------
low rise
the "far cry" is part of the bigger "low rise" and the poem divides on itself and goes smaller, goes focused on the incidents that make up the equation. However, the tempo comes when thinking of math problems.
In my case, a simple person who does horribly on math, the simpler the equation, the faster I speed through it. And, through words, the speaker simplifies the equations. For example, "an every morning sticks, figure A, for alas, stick figures, it / figures that we awaken in the same rectangle at different points on the time / line, these every days the sum of all our"
So the speed comes when the word "figures" is repeated and one part of my mind (attuned to math at this point) thinks "figures = figures" but, like any good test taker math person, I go back to make sure my answers is correct. Figures =/= figures. Figures has multiple meanings and usage (noun, verb, adjective) it's used in the poem -- yet they equate to the same emotion.
The stanza break for "angles" is a nice touch as well to add to the multiplicity of the words and details. Note that what is mentioned is details -- not images, but metaphor through the usage of language which is exemplified in the last stanza.
I can't break the lines how I want to on blogger, but the last stanza sets the read up with "quadratic of words, for example:"
What it means to be quadratic is to have four parts, but still be part of the equation (or in this poem a problem involving love...perhaps): "But-I-love-you," "Place-in-the-box," "Pass-the-god-damn-butter." The last one in particular plays with the idea how a word is connected. Yes, goddamn (doesn't trigger my spell-check) is a single word on some occasions, but on this occasion, there's a sonic emphasis on god or damn which presses the meaning subtly for me.
Past me writes this, "Emotionally, looking for cohesion in something falling apart," to commentate on the poem. And I can see the meaning; however, current me likes the way the techniques are not only announced but followed through in interesting ways.
Originally read: February 4, 2013
The poem plays on tempo. Yes, there's the beginning where the focus is on the "equation" aspect of the poem and how, mathematically, the lines and words mold together like:
far cry
------
low rise
the "far cry" is part of the bigger "low rise" and the poem divides on itself and goes smaller, goes focused on the incidents that make up the equation. However, the tempo comes when thinking of math problems.
In my case, a simple person who does horribly on math, the simpler the equation, the faster I speed through it. And, through words, the speaker simplifies the equations. For example, "an every morning sticks, figure A, for alas, stick figures, it / figures that we awaken in the same rectangle at different points on the time / line, these every days the sum of all our"
So the speed comes when the word "figures" is repeated and one part of my mind (attuned to math at this point) thinks "figures = figures" but, like any good test taker math person, I go back to make sure my answers is correct. Figures =/= figures. Figures has multiple meanings and usage (noun, verb, adjective) it's used in the poem -- yet they equate to the same emotion.
The stanza break for "angles" is a nice touch as well to add to the multiplicity of the words and details. Note that what is mentioned is details -- not images, but metaphor through the usage of language which is exemplified in the last stanza.
I can't break the lines how I want to on blogger, but the last stanza sets the read up with "quadratic of words, for example:"
What it means to be quadratic is to have four parts, but still be part of the equation (or in this poem a problem involving love...perhaps): "But-I-love-you," "Place-in-the-box," "Pass-the-god-damn-butter." The last one in particular plays with the idea how a word is connected. Yes, goddamn (doesn't trigger my spell-check) is a single word on some occasions, but on this occasion, there's a sonic emphasis on god or damn which presses the meaning subtly for me.
Past me writes this, "Emotionally, looking for cohesion in something falling apart," to commentate on the poem. And I can see the meaning; however, current me likes the way the techniques are not only announced but followed through in interesting ways.
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