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[juneflame.livejournal.com]

A Visit

Gone are the days
when you could walk on water.
When you could walk.

The days are gone.
Only one day remains,
the one you're in.

The memory is no friend.
It can only tell you
what you no longer have:

a left hand you can use,
two feet that walk.
All the brain's gadgets.

Hello, hello.
The one hand that still works
grips, won't let go.

That is not a train.
There is no cricket.
Let's not panic.

Let's talk about axes,
which kinds are good,
the many names of wood.

This is how to build
a house, a boat, a tent.
No use; the toolbox

refuses to reveal its verbs;
the rasp, the plane, the awl,
revert to sullen metal.

Do you recognize anything? I said.
Anything familiar?
Yes, you said. The bed.

Better to watch the stream
that flows across the floor
and is made of sunlight,

the forest made of shadows;
better to watch the fireplace
which is now a beach.

~Margaret Atwood~

Comments

[crysanthia.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this as I love Atwood's poetry.

Thank you for posting!

Re:

[juneflame.livejournal.com]

glad to be of service. ;)

[penguinboy.livejournal.com]

Good poem. Although, could you explain why the she chose an axe? Also, the second the last stanza, she shifts... "Better to watch the stream..." better than what?

The very last stanza... "better to watch the fireplace which is now a beach" Why? Is it because the person has lost such senses that she cannot discern the two. If so, why choose fireplace and beach and not another image?

I am still thinking about this.

Re:

[juneflame.livejournal.com]

Good questions! to be honest, i fell in love with the sound of the poem and didn't consider them.

but i've given it some thought.

it seems to me that an axe and a voice are similar. both are tools, used to carve... an voice to carve meaning, speech. an ax to carve out a boat, a house. both are lost to this person: the refusal for verbs to be revealed, the loss of the use of hands. instead of wood to be carved, all 'reverts to sullen metal.'

then also, the loss of the use of a hand. its possible this is another reference to a loss of communication, the ability to physically write. (and obviously, of efficacy).

'better to watch the stream than'... logically it seems, the bed, which is the only thing the person recognized in the previous stanza. but i think she is saying: don't look at the bed. change your priorities. look at the sunlight. look at the shadows, the shift.

there's a bit of a theme of natural things vs. created things: the fireplace mistaken for a beach, the shadows cast through the window become a forest, choose the sunlight over the bed. and a sort of industrialization: using an axe to create houses, walking on water, etc.

as for why the fireplace is a beach? i'm not sure. flames are like waves. ashes could be like sand. or sand could have been used to douse flame. but i fear i'm being too literal. the image does seem intentional. the intent is not so readily apparent, however.

(one last thought is that the ocean is thought to be the origin of all life. this person seems near death. the fireplace could be a reference to a crematory. and endpoint. i dunno. that's reaching too hard, i think).

sorry for th

[penguinboy.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Thanks for that. I agree with a lot of what you said. I think I missed the part about loss of speech on my previous reads but now it's much more clear. The tools are a parallel to the tools that help speech, the "brain's gadgets".

And the things/objects shifting into one another... the fireplace becoming the beach for instance could be a reference to the patient's loss of nouns... "fireplace" becomes "beach" in her mind. The neat thing is we (the readers) don't really know if she's looking at a fireplace or a beach.

Neat.

[juneflame.livejournal.com]

ugh, i got cut off.
i just said, sorry for the rambling, and i hope this is of help.

i am still thinking about this. ;)