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But the window had a crack that everyone saw.
“Why don’t you fix that, John; the rest is
So perfect?”
“Oh, the window? Ha!
Look down. Did you spot how clean
The shoe cart and the tile flooring is?”
“Yes.”
“Did you smell orange-oil,
And feel your chair's dust-free skin?”
“I did.”
“So you also scanned my
close-shaven face? My oiled hair?
with all its ordered strands in place—”
“John! It’s a nice room, and you're very well-kept.
All of it, but that crack.”
“Well, for years I kept this room
Perfect. Not one speck, one flaw.
And business came, and business
Went; nobody really saw.
Then I punched the quiet glass.
It chirped and split.
Once people saw that vein,
Like an angry bolt though invisible clear,
swallowing the blankness across that pane,
Only then, they looked for a pattern of flaws.
And noticed... straight lines and polish instead.
And then—only then—did my clients and friends
give the window their pity and the rest their applause.”
The poem “Perfection is a Pointless Canvas” allowed me great reflection of many instances in my life. It focuses on the idea of flawlessness, and how easily it can be looked past. Despite John’s perfect desk, appearance, and cleanliness, the only thing the person who enters the room mentions is how unfortunate the imperfect crack in his window is. This sentiment displays that no matter how amazing something is, its flaws will always be noticed first. However, it also demonstrates how something exquisite is more appreciated once it can be contrasted to something worse. The person talking to John only mentions the crack in John’s window because it is so out of place, meaning he really analyzed the room and observed its perfection before viewing the window. John’s anger from the lack of appreciation for his excellence causes the destruction of it, via his window, which truly only enhances the excellence in his room in the end. I related this back to my life because I, too, live like a perfectionist; I keep my space tidy, do all my tasks in a rather timely manner, and do said tasks until I am happy with their outcome. However, this is simply just my norm. I often do not appreciate just how responsible and hardworking I am, and sometimes get angry that I do not see new benefits from it each day. If I were to stop living with diligence and effort, though, I know I would see less success and happiness in my life. With this in mind, it inspires me to continue my lifestyle, or what I deem as my “perfection.” John is able to physically see the benefits of his perfection once he contrasts it with destruction; I only imagine what would happen without perfection in my life, but this poem reminded me of the true importance of effort and time. Visually, the poem is uniform, until John begins talking about how others started to recognize his cleanliness, where it starts to drift off to the right. I think this connects to the idea that he comes to a conclusion about his friends and clients’ opinions of him, so his thoughts regarding the subject drift off.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, I resonated with this idea of cultivating perfection and maintaining it. I tend to have perfectionist behaviors as well, ensuring that certain aspects of my life contain no flaws. To me, it is incredibly satisfying. But, what I thought was interesting about this poem is the recognition of his perfect order that he craves. He creates a flaw on purpose, so that his perfectionism is noticed. His perfectionism and mine differ in that manner, I have these behaviors to relinquish stress, while he calls attention to his behaviors to seek satisfaction. However, I completely empathize with his reaction to other people’s responses as I have the same response in my own life. When I make a mistake, I feel that small mistake attracts attention from others and makes me feel insecure. In the poem, any crack in the glass becomes extremely noticeable compared to the obvious perfection surrounding it. The message that this poem conveys is that the pristine perfection, which John worked tirelessly to create, was only noticed after the imperfection was observed. He felt the only way to receive praise for his attention to detail was to ruin a key piece of his crafted room. People have a tendency to look for the negative either because of their own insecurities or for another reason, yet this societal morality only creates more pessimism. Additionally, the emotions in which the author engraves in the broken glass causes another association with imperfections, the hurt that emerges from destroying the ideas of perfection. The format of the poem is a source of interest because it begins in a perfect arrangement, though, after the glass fractures, the poem’s format distorts falling out of a clean pattern. Perfectionism sometimes plagues my mind, and this poem is a reflection of why perfection can become poisonous, the heavy judgment imposed by others on top of the self-inflicted anxiety which remains.
ReplyDelete"the hurt that emerges from destroying the ideas of perfection." Yeap ~ it's such a very, very satisfying moment when -- as a perfectionist -- we say "Let's intentionally break something, and take ownership of its imperfection." It's like taking water and dissolving off the shell of "Oh god, I hope it's right everywhere, so no one will point and say - except for that spot right there."
DeleteFrom a young age, we have had the burden of carrying the expectations of those around us, striving to be the best versions of ourselves in a society that does not seem to want to give us a seat at the table. Even though we have been taught that mistakes help us grow and are what make us human, there is an underlying expectation that we aim to be perfect, causing us to want to fit in with the social standards that are set generations in before us. But, perfection comes at the cost of our individuality. If the world was always perfect, everything would appear black and white, making it boring and stagnant .The collage reflects how the simple crack in the window allows light to seep into the otherwise plain and clear picture. While the colors seem a little messy and abrupt, they reveal hidden beauties that “perfection” could never truly attain. I realize that it is through my own differences with others and my mistakes that I stand out, not in a bad way, but in an individualistic way that makes the world more interesting and exciting. Similar to the speaker, no matter how hard I try to keep everything in its place, be punctual, attempt to achieve perfection, no one really notices my efforts until I finally break and things fall from a tower that I have so desperately tried to build.
ReplyDeleteI see the visual structure of the poem almost mimicking a game of tetris, with each line finding a spot where it can fit in perfectly, until the end when the speaker realizes that people only notice him for his flaws, and then the lines start to move in a new direction, not focused on trying to fit in with the ones the precede it. The game slowly falls apart as order and personal limitations are no longer holding the words back from escaping their box, finally free from the design it felt obligated to adhere to.
Immediately after I read this poem, I felt that the most profound skill was the use of storytelling to convey both perspectives and the way that perfection becomes a topic of conversation. When the crack in the window is pointed out, it feels like such a normal thing to observe because why wouldn’t you want to fix a crack in a window? The response to that is even more telling about human nature. There are so many perfect things to observe in that space, yet the crack in the window is the first thing that people notice. From a young age, we are conditioned to look for these imperfections so that we can fix any “cracks” in our appearances. When going out into the world, you want to put your best foot forward and present the best version of yourself, but somehow, there is always going to be the next wrong thing that you can find. I think that the most important message of this poem is to remind the reader to focus on all of the things that are going right rather than the one thing that is going wrong. It is very interesting to hear that the crack in the window came from the speaker's loss of temper, which shows the way the crack has preserved that momentary imperfection for everyone to view, and the speaker likely feels offense when the crack is noticed because it is a constant reminder of the time he punched the window. I think the artwork to go along with it is perfect because there is so much contrast that it cannot possibly be defined as perfect.
ReplyDelete"the speaker likely feels offense when the crack is noticed because it is a constant reminder of the time he punched the window." -- Does it seem to you like that's the speaker's emotional response to the crack... based on how they speak in regards to it?
DeletePeople consistently hope for better, and many constantly work towards improvement. Personally, if I see something that stands out to me as lower quality than surroundings, I have the urge to fix it to strive for perfection. However, similar to how I notice features relative to the environment, the more developed the picture as a whole is, the more I expect it to be. Because of this changing perception, satisfaction with the world around me is diminished as my goal to improve leaves behind the greatness of what is around me. I fail to appreciate simple mechanisms of life that bring me comfort because they are expected, such as the simple fact that your body can subconsciously separate the trachea from the esophagus when breathing and eating and the fact that injuries heal so easily. Despite the fact that life would be much harder without these qualities, I would still be equally satisfied because I would not expect more. This issue extends beyond me as well because the imagination of greater standards detracts from the reason for gratitude that exists in our very lives. Whether it is children complaining that their parents are not as fun as their friends’ parents, middle class people wishing they were extremely wealthy, or the numerous people focusing on the fact that they were born with less than others, people are distracted by these dreams that have no weight, and forget the fact that in addition to being born with less physical wealth than others, they are born with the equal potential for happiness and a satisfying life and even in a materialistic world they are born with much more than many other people could ever ask for.
ReplyDeleteThe abstract art that accompanies the poem supports its themes because upon initial sight, it seems to be a mistake or a horrible mixture of shapes and colors, but on a deeper level it has a unique variety that gives it color instead of equal quality. The strip of the colorful design surrounded by the monochromatic portions on both sides shows that although the colors may be seen as unusual with no matching pattern, they stand out from what would otherwise be a plain image that only contains shades of gray. The indentations in the beginning of the text show the contrasts between the two dialogues, but the increased indentation towards the final description of the importance of the pattern of flaws shows the forward development from a simple image to a wonderful picture that is recognized because of the one flaw. Together, these show the tendency of society to lose track of what is valuable in life just because the people do not consider the extent of the beauty around them.
Lily M.:
ReplyDeleteThe poem “Perfection is a Pointless Canvas” immediately caught my attention as I have struggled with perfectionism for many years. Despite John’s spotless desk, someone still manages to point out the smallest flaw, a tiny crack in the window. John is disappointed and frustrated. He points out everything perfect about the room, such as the shiny tile flooring and the dust-free desk. John even points out how perfect his hair and clean-shaven face is. However, among the thousands of perfections, there will always be someone to spot the one imperfection. This poem is a prime example of the constant judgment and criticism surrounding us. The collage that goes along with the poem is of a meaningless painting. It is simply a canvas with paint splattered on it. There is no specific sketch or drawing. It ties with the title of the poem, “Perfection is a Pointless Canvas,” demonstrating that there is no point in achieving perfection because someone will always point out a flaw. I am my harshest critic. I feel as though everything I do has to be perfect because I am afraid of letting others down. More importantly though, I am afraid of letting myself down. I am always organized and squeaky clean. I strive to be the best at everything I do, especially in school. Although being a perfectionist is the reason I am so driven, it also results in me being unnecessarily hard on myself. Like John, I seek validation from others. However, this poem reminds me that I do not need others’ approval. I should instead embrace my perfectionism because it is a huge reason for all of my successes.
This poem has a lot of ideas that stood out to me. It struck me that perfect can be boring, can be meaningless, without the color that comes from imperfection. The collage seems to represent this vibrance. The crack is oozing color like the rainbow shine from oil, staining the dark, cloud filled sky with beautiful imperfection. Our faults are what make us people, without them what are we? A pristine white canvas with nothing to show for. If we were perfect, we’d have nothing to change, nothing to share, nothing to build, nothing to discover. How boring life would be, living in the monotonous chains of perfection. Not only that, but as the poem states perfection goes unnoticed without the juxtaposition of the alternative. I often search for perfection, something I know is impossible. I always seem to put 110% in the wrong things. Putting maximum effort into an assignment worth 5 points, refusing to even start an essay worth 100. John has discovered a balance I haven’t. The time, effort, and thought that goes into making something the best it can be is highlighted by the things we choose not to perfect. Because we can’t make everything we do impeccable, no matter how we try. So it is best to focus on what we want, and what we value. Its not sacrificing that which we don’t perfect, just pointing towards what we do. Without a basis, and attention grabber, the flawlessness of John's appearance is pure white noise.
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