.jpg)
So many ways to the name I've heard
(Spoken to me once, a whisper-word:
First “Little life,” then “son,”
and then ...
Air-ballooned far and further still again).
It spread so far from that single name:
A question, a warning, a label,
a claim
From canted heads and starch-rodded
fingers –
A pro-forma stonewall, a ghostly ringer
Raised like me (some quivering life, unknown),
But ghastly and sub-complete, overblown
And misunderstood – a game-piece. Not
really-me.
“Oh, you know, he's just him.” So you see
What these names do – make us sound
Smooth, clear, and tonal: notes
above-ground;
Real ground, whose hushed weight –
dirty, thick –
Acts more like we do (not
the snap, but the stick).
So yes, I forgot it (to remember
you:
knotted, ingesting, outletting, askew)
–
For what does the name of God but this:
Gives a shallow call through a deep
abyss …?
Really just written as a lead-in to the line 'What is the name of God but this / A shallow call through a deep abyss,' which had been floating in my head for a while.
ReplyDeleteSo now it can rest :)
In this poem, the speaker reflects on names. When the speaker was born, his parents called him “little life” and “son.” These names are figurative name tags; they identify the speaker as a living boy. As the speaker matures, he realizes that people use his personal name to identify him. They call his personal name for a variety of reasons, whether to ask a question or to scold. The speaker then discusses how important names are. He says, “What these names do - make us sound / Smooth, clear, and tonal: notes above-ground.” Just as the speaker is identified by his personal name, humans in general are identified by their names. Having a name is associated with being a unique, valuable human being. A person’s name is an easy way to recognize him or her. However, it is not the surest way to distinguish someone. At the end of the day, people are much more than their names alone.
ReplyDeleteI thought the visual structure of the poem was interesting. The stanzas appear to descend from a high point to a low point. I believe this relates to the “abyss” mentioned in the last line. I am not completely sure what the “abyss” is, but I think it represents complete hopelessness.
The abyss is not a subject in that sentence; "the name of God" is the subject, doing something through an abyss (as our names do through our own lives).
Delete