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Sometimes it's easier dreaming
They'll say you're dead
Than hoping
They'll say you're still
Waiting for me like a lost shoe.
You fit me too well for me to
Not-stay-and-breathe
The way I do.
Still comes steaming
Up my nose, alone in a chair
At night, when my roommates
Sleep with their stereos,
Or their dates –
Good sounds, good fates:
I'll never learn their real names
Because they don't come in.
Never wanted to
Be with me
The way you do:
They'll leave open doors, like
I did, for the still. It's quick
to come in. Rolls
Up my nose
And stops: I'm there
To not breathe with you.
She got adopted.
ReplyDeleteSo don't y'all worry too hard.
(The still's along way off for her yet - should be).
The poem begins by stating that it’s easier to dream than to hope. Most people are misunderstanding, however, for if you are dreaming, “they’ll say you’re dead” (2), and if you are hopeful than “they’ll say you’re still” (3). Lines 1-4 comment on the fact that people often make judgements based on appearance. When someone is sleeping and when someone is dead, the two actions may look the same, but they could not be farther apart. By stating it’s easier to dream than to hope, the speaker magnifies the differentiation between the two. Most people associate dreaming with a hopeful connotation. Dreaming can be hopeful, but it doesn’t always have to be. There is an obvious attachment and connection between the speaker and the person to whom the speaker is addressing. This connection can be seen in the line “waiting for me like a lost shoe” (5). A shoe is a conventional symbol for the pairing of two things. It is unheard to wear two different shoes at the same time, so by stating that the two two are like pair of shoes suggests that the two are predestined to be with one another and to “fit too well” (6) together. While this poem could easily be perceived as a love poem between two soul mates, it is instead centered around a man’s relationship with his dog. The reader is aware of this not only by the picture of a dog before the poem, but also by the words and content in the poem. Dogs are often seen as “man’s best friend” and are both affectionate and loyal. When the second line states “they’ll say you’re dead,” I think of the phrase “dead as a dog.” My dog sleeps for a majority of the day, and could easily be mistaken for being dead (if it weren’t for her snoring.) Also, dogs are notoriously known for patiently waiting for their owners to come home. Once their owner walks through the door, dogs often bark and jump up with excitement after waiting for their he or she all day “like a lost shoe” (5). The reference to a lost shoe also relates, because dogs commonly steal shoes to chew on them. When the speaker states “they don’t come in. / Never wanted to / Be with me / The way you do” (15-18). The speaker feels a disconnect between himself and his roommates, however he notes the loyalty and friendship of his dog that is always there for him, even when other humans aren’t.
ReplyDeleteThis dog is not the speaker's dog. She is a shelter dog; he struggling with not knowing whether she has been put down or adopted, since she is no longer listed as 'available' on the shelter's website. Sometimes it's easier, emotionally to accept the dog's potential death than to hope against hope that they're still alive.
Delete"The still" is an idiosyncratic phrase that I use (in many of my poems, not just this one) to imply death and death-like states -- loneliness, helplessness, stagnancy, etc.