Encounter

[Lykren]

I will let you hold the jam jar
full of sage, if only
you can promise to be delicate.
I am afraid of the thought
that will come if it breaks.
I am afraid of the way
the light breaks, smashing
itself against the snowy clouds
and equally upon the cliffs
and equally within your irises.

What is it, once you have begun
to examine that jar, that holds me,
illuminates and dissects me, and stays
not long enough to wither?

I have paid for this summer.
Many years have been paid.
Pollen silently populates
the air we breathe, standing here,
I leaning against this tree,
and you standing, simply looking.

[blank|verse]

An anecdote of a jar…

and one full of sage, which suggests wisdom (sagacity) in so doing filling the jar of the poem with metaphorical herbage. It’s tempting to read it as wisdom in or as art and therefore perhaps this is a poem about poetry itself. In Wallace Stevens’s ‘Anecdote of the Jar’, the jar itself can be seen as representing art and craft, and is juxtaposed with the nature that surrounds it, which, although it creates, does so fairly randomly, wildly, without the control that mankind brings to nature through producing art. (And the influence of Stevens also shows itself through the repetition and rhythm of the poem.) In your poem, it’s not so much what the jar symbolises but its effects on people.

The narrator is a noticeably timid character, afraid of the things of the world, and questioning his or her feelings towards it. It’s interesting that the narrator isn’t afraid of the jar breaking in itself and spilling its contents, or his/her emotional reaction, but to ‘the thought’ that the breakage will provoke, which seems a bit strange, that’s it’s an intellectual reaction not an emotional one, as the poem is so racked with nerves you can almost see the letters shake.

It’s also interesting to note the role of nature in the poem. Nature is both beneficent (it is the ‘sage’ in the jar to be treasured and adored, and sage has medicinal qualities of course; the tree can be used to lean against) but is also destructive (in the way it insidiously ‘populates the air we breathe’ which causes people respiratory problems; it’s even self-destructive: the light ‘smashes itself’ against the snow clouds, and cliffs, and people’s eyes). There’s even a suggestion that nature has been commercialised in the lines: ‘I have paid for this summer. | Many years have been paid.’ Although why or what for is unclear.

Perhaps ultimately, the poem is about how different people react to their ‘encounter’ with poetry, or art, or the world around them, etc. There does seem to be a rather Romantic suggestion here that the narrator / poet is responding more sensitively to the symbolic jar, while the poem’s addressee is left ‘standing, simply looking’, ie. without the same depth of feeling. Which, if correct, means the poem is rather judgemental.

Either way, this is another thought-provoking poem, Lykren; enjoyable to read and consider.

[Lykren]

It's interesting that you considered the possibility of this poem being judgmental. I hadn't thought of it that way, but there is certainly some anger here, mixed in with the obvious fear and anxiety. Thanks again for your generous comments!

[Lykren]

Didn't have time to post this earlier.

I didn't intend the poem to be read as a meditation on our diverse reactions to poetry, but rather on my own personal struggle with interpersonal communication. Of course, now that the poem has been written and read, my intentions signify little in the affair. :)

[blank|verse]

I think it was the final phrase in the poem, 'you standing, simply looking' that made me consider this idea of the poem being 'judgemental' (with or without the 'e'!); and in a poem where things aren't clear-cut, it acted as something of a clue to understanding the poem, or interpreting it anyway.

Reading it again, the opening few lines suggest the narrator is talking to a child, the conditional 'if...' establishes an unequal relationship, as if the addressee can't be trusted with the responsibility of what he or she is being given.

It's interesting that you say you struggle with interpersonal communication, when you can express yourself so fluently through poetry. I understand the concern though; with poetry, you can always go back over what you've said, revise, rephrase; when you say something in the real world, it can't be retracted as easily!