I sewed for five years, reluctantly.
Always hated tying thread-ends
together.
Then a Russian man showed me,
“Just roll them all between your
fingers.”
So I licked the ends—
roll, fold, roll—
And those strands,
in trying to unwind,
formed a knot.
A solid knot.
Every time.
“Such a waste!”
I'm tempted to linger.
But start remembering
Hours I spent
slowly tying my shoes,
While adults rolled their eyes.
And re-writing my loop-lettered name
a thousand sloppy times.
Pain in my shoulder
from before
I learned to lift weights right.
Hot words I spit on people,
Before seeing “Oh, this problem's mine.”
A beautiful face,
I never talked to.
A question for my
favorite old neighbor,
I never asked.
A plate of rich flavors
I waved away.
A trip to “When else?”
That I let pass.
My mind could lose itself counting the holes.
But I'd just as soon fill myself double, where I'm going—
Wrapping my head, heart, and hands around
The inevitable waste of growing.
This poem deals with making mistakes and taking chances. The speaker comes to understand that it is better to do something and realize you are wrong and try to learn from those “failures” rather than to let the world and its opportunities pass you by. I fear that sometimes I let too many opportunities go past me. Whether it’s the fear of failure or thinking “Oh, I’ll do that another time, but I don’t want to do that right now,” I feel like there have been times when I have missed out on experiencing life by holding myself back. One of my friend’s philosophy is that he almost forces himself to do things even if he doesn’t always want to because he doesn’t want to look back and think about all he didn’t do. At first I dismissed the idea, but after reading this poem, maybe I need to reconsider my original stance.
ReplyDeleteI really relate to the overall message of this poem, the concept of giving up or quitting before even really trying to do something. I tend to be a bad procrastinator, which also often applies to trying new things. I always feel discouraged when I start trying something because often I haven’t been practicing enough to be “good” at something. I ordered an embroidery kit a few months ago, but I got so confused the first time I tried to use it that I haven’t used it since. I felt that idea being conveyed in this poem, especially through the last line “The inevitable waste of growing.” I perceived some sarcasm in this line, because I don’t think growing and trying new things is usually understood as wasteful, but the tone of the poem suggests that frequently quitting and giving up can produce this idea about growing. I also enjoyed the part of the poem that describes learning to tie shoes or practicing a signature because it is the speaker reminding themselves of everything that they originally didn’t know how to do, but they had to learn and grow until it became like second nature. I think it is important to always remember what I am good at and what I can do when faced with frustration when trying something new.
ReplyDeleteWell-read.
DeleteThe Inevitable Waste- May 23, 2018
ReplyDeleteThe poem the Inevitable Waste addresses the idea of attempting to take a short cut and how the speaker would give up before really committing to something and trying to understand it. When I first read the title I thought it was going to address problems regarding the climate however, I soon learned that I was very wrong as the first few stanzas mentions how the speaker is attempting to try a new method of sewing but repeatedly fails to get it right. Moving father along the poem, the speakers mentions the fact that everything takes time and practice and how frustrated they became. I felt like I could strongly relate to this poem as I often get frustrated when things do not go my way or when I have to try things repeatedly to get the same results as my peers who only have to do it once or twice to understand it.
This poem really stood out to me because of the last line that states that “The inevitable waste of growing”. This line caught my attention as it goes along with the idea that being a grown-up is wasteful because you have to step outside your comfort zone and try new things which not everyone is going to be comfortable with. However, when you try these new things one tends to grow and shape into a more maturer and wiser person.
This poem really resonated with me because I’m definitely not immune to berating myself for seeing my actions as a “waste” of time or energy. I would sometimes hand make gifts for my friends and family on special occasions, and it would often take a lot of time to do so. During those moments, I would be left with my own thoughts and sitting there, just wonder whether I’m wasting my time and energy on making something so small and insignificant. In the moment, those small tasks feel like a waste of time, especially knowing that as human beings, I only have limited time. However, once I give that gift and witness the moment of sheer joy and curiosity, I look back and realize that my time was worth what I was able to see.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, anything can and will seem like a waste depending on how you think. Even with the idea of wasting chances, when I decide against doing something, like never really approaching that person I wanted to befriend, that also, in a contradictory way, feels like a waste. However, there’s a give and take limbo, and if we think about what it is that we lose, only “counting the holes”, we don’t realize that we may have also gained something, or rather, grown as a person, in the process. Whether we decide to take up a chance or let it pass us by, there’s a lot that can be gained by focusing on how the experience has helped us grow.
This poem is about putting in the work to solve a problem. I relate to this poem because a lot of times, when you are very focused on accomplishing a goal, it can seem like your work is a waste of time. When you’re not seeing immediate results, it’s hard to keep working at something that takes a lot of effort. I’ve struggled a lot with this recently especially. The poem emphasized a point that I like to remind myself of when I’m feeling like my work isn’t paying off. The speaker remembers learning how to tie his shoes and how to write his name, and he uses this as a reminder that it takes repeated effort to see results. Although it may take a lot of time and energy to reach your goals, this effort is necessary for growth. If you commit yourself to a goal, and you put in the work to accomplish it, you will get the results you desire.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is relatable to me on some level as it often does feel that there is waste in growing and learning. Though, it is also a process we can not circumvent and so therefore it is unstoppable. The poem consists of a series of examples of this told as little stories. This feels like the way life is lived, one moment to next. The first stanza has almost a break running down the middle of it, like the two ends of thread the narrator cannot attach. The stories cascade down and seem to grow, as if mimicking the speaker’s growth as well. The ending of the poem seems to suggest that the process of this waste is what leads us to grow. The imagery of the holes being filled in is symbolic of the speaker’s growth, and a recognition that though there may be many holes, they are filling them and it is necessary for one to live this way to learn. The collage is a collection of images that feel nostalgic and remind me of childhood and or growth in a way. The double sided frown/smiley face in the middle represents the dual nature of growing, how improving is a happy thing, but that also makes one realize what one used to do wrong. The potatoes invoke the imagery of growing plants and connect it to human growth, how one must go through all stages of growing. The writing of “You can do the thing” is very fitting as people often need motivation to learn and grow and to find themselves in the struggle of achieving something. Oftentimes people believe they cannot do something because they have not learned to do it but it is a self fulfilling irony that merely causes people never to grow or learn.
ReplyDeleteThis poem speaks to me as a young person coming to terms with all the regrets and mistakes they’ve made in their life, as they recount all the times they have failed at something or didn’t take an opportunity that they wished they had. The title itself. “Inevitable Waste” is used in the last line of the poem, which to me seems like a way of wrapping up the speaker’s thoughts and acknowledging the fact that everyone is going to make mistakes and that in the process of growing up, you won’t be able to do all the things that you want to or wished you could simply because there isn’t enough time in the world to do everything. A part of growing up is making the decisions that best fit you, and they may not always be the right decision, but what’s more important is to learn from that and make sure that you have a better idea of what decision you want to make in the future.The initial anecdote about shoelaces is indicative of this process of growing up, as there will always be some inevitable thing that will make you reevaluate and have to tie the knot again in a different way to accommodate that new thing. There’s no way to predict what’s coming, and sometimes when life takes you by surprise, you may not make the right decision for you, leading to the inevitable waste that follows in the wake of the growth of anyone. I also find the collage very interesting, especially the dual happy and sad face that’s made from a parentheses and two sets of colons, and I think it conveys the idea that life is both happy and sad at times, and that the events that lead us to these emotions are all formative in one way or another and are what inspire future decisions and choices that will make your future.
ReplyDelete