DDCPoetry

Original poem reprinted online here: "On the Death of a Colleague" by Stephen Dunn Originally read: June 24, 2013 More information about the Poet: Stephen Dunn Generic exposition.  This might come off as a bit surface in my analysis, but this is how the poem operates in the first stanza.  The title itself, "On the Death of a Colleague" opens up a eulogy tone which means there's going to be portions of nostalgia and exposition to understand the current.  For example, "She taught theater, so we gathered / in the theater."  There's no metaphor, or any poetic tricks here -- just simple statements which lead to generic remembrances, "We praised her voice, her knowledge, / how good she was / with Godot ,"  The reference to Godot (existential journey viewed and acted through the absurd) will set an undertone throughout the poem. However, we're back to the generalized descriptions of the passed, "She was fifty.  The problem in the liver...

Original poem reprinted online here: "Briefcases" by Stephen Dunn Originally read: April 2, 2013 More information about the Poet: Stephen Dunn With a line like, "I kept it like love / until I couldn't be kept anymore."  A part of me thought I would discard this poem as overly sentimental (which I do too often) and then move to a different type of poem.  However, in this instance, and for that day, I decided to print this poem out and look more into how the devices work in this poem. There are puns, sentimentality, playing with white space, consistent quatrains, a slight sense of the absurd, narrative elements, role reversals brought about through similes, and I think that's it.  Why do I list all these techniques out now?  Well, this is the major and interesting thing about the poem -- the poem is unapologetic on the sentiment.  This is how the speaker is feeling, and more importantly, the absurdity it takes to keep this feeling. What am I writing?   I...