Autistic Swan

[Lykren]

Transfixed by the constellation
of hopes in patterns of red
amazement, white resolution,
dreams drag across the landscape

of the cut, cleanly remembered.
The ice and air stain and sap
from my mouth the fresh crush
of iron, salt, love’s motion.

To silence repairs gladly the revolution.
Heavenward go ghosts.
Where then aborted time floating,
a doll in the sun?

From the clasp of the sky, a lake,
our hands unravel like stones.



Thank you for your time.

[Jerrybaldy]

You are welcome. Thanks for your words.

[AuntShecky]

Check the syntax of l. 9, the opening line of the third stanza. It's an example of hyperbaton aka "Yoda speech."
Other than that, I like it fine. Intriguing title!

[Lykren]

I know, I wanted it like that :)

[DATo]

EDIT: Nevermind.

[Lykren]

I saw your original post: you wanted someone to explain to you what this poem means. Why did you delete it?

[DATo]

I am not a fan of poetry which I cannot decipher into some meaningfully fixed idea or even a vague interpretation for that matter. Your poem is totally enigmatic to me. I can make absolutely no sense of it nor form any interpretation which I feel I can justify with reasonable confidence. You must understand that this is just a reflection of my own personal tastes, interpretive abilities and poetic inclinations. I am aware that the fault may lie entirely with me. Perhaps I lack the acumen necessary to properly interpret the poem.

I find a lot of this type of poetry here on this forum. I sit in amazement as readers sometimes respond to such poems with glowing tributes and I must ask myself what they saw in it that I missed. I re-read the poems, I turn the poems over and over, I read them front to back and back to front, but in the end I am still as befuddled as I was when I first read them. I can find no hint, no clue no path to lead me to what the poet is attempting to convey.

I do not mean to denigrate your work with what I have written above. You are quite right to display your work in any manner in which you see fit. I also do not mean to denigrate the tastes of those who may appreciate it for as I have stated already the fault may be my own lack of interpretive skill.

I deleted my post because even if an explanation were offered by the most unimpeachable source - the poet him/herself - that I would remain fixed in the knowledge that there would have been no way I could have come up with that interpretation on my own. When a poem's meaning is indecipherable it is reduced to mere words, thus one would be equally served by reading a dictionary for its artistic merit.

[Lykren]

Thanks for the thoughtful answer, DATo, it was more interesting than most of the replies I get.


When a poem's meaning is indecipherable it is reduced to mere words, thus one would be equally served by reading a dictionary for its artistic merit.

Perhaps the above statement of yours provides a clue to the difficulty? I don't understand poetry as having a scope larger than that of words. For me the artful arrangement of words is a process and a game that has its own delights, with or without referring to other things in life. I understand that you may find that attitude absurd and incomprehensible, but in that case you will have my sympathy, because often I too find myself baffled at the tastes and pleasures of others! Thank you again for offering your opinion.

[AuntShecky]

Note to DATo (and you too, Lykren!): I've learned to look at contemporary poetry the way I look at modern painting (which, incidentally, I love.) Let the words wash over you, and eventually something will sink in.
In other words, don't overthink it.