X by Jean Valentine - Poetry: The Best Words in the Best Order - #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2021
X
Jean Valentine
"I have decorated this banner to honor my brother. Our parents did not want his name used publicly."
--- from an unnamed child's banner in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
The boat pond, broken off, looks back at the sky.
I remember looking at you, X, this way,
taking in your red hair, your eyes' light, and I miss you so.
I know, you are you, and real, standing there in the doorway,
whether dead or whether living, real.
--- then Y said, " Who will remember me three years after I die?
What is there for my eye to read then?"
The lamb should not have given
his wool.
He was so small. At the end, X, you were so small.
Playing with a stone
On your bedspread at the end of the ocean.
The Poet: Jean Valentine (1934 - 2020)
New York State Laureate from 2008 to 2010, Jean Valentine was a celebrated American poet who was awarded the 2004 National Book Award for Poetry for her collection of poems titled 'Door in the Mountain'. Her poems were lyrical, dealing with the personal as well as the political, and some with even a spiritual quality in them. They were often understated and quiet, almost as if she were sharing a secret with her readers, whispering into their ears. Through her writings, she offered solidarity and companionship, a feeling of being together on the same stage, the world.
The poem 'X' was written to commemorate the untimely death of a young child who died of AIDs. His name was not divulged as his parents did not want to acknowledge the cause of his death. Was this boy the poet's brother or was it a poem from her imagination?
The sorrow is palpable, the longing evident. She misses his red hair, and the light in his eyes. She talks of how loved he was, and of how he was too young to die. Yet, the irony comes through as the family wanted to hide the fact that the boy died of AIDs.
Y is another speaker in the poem, one who wonders if he will be remembered after his death. The focus comes back to X in the last few lines that lament over the death of the young boy, playing with a stone on his bedspread, the end of the ocean. This sounds like an after death reference.
An emotional poem. You have summarised it well keeping the emotions intact. Must have been a difficult poem for her to write and express her grief
ReplyDeleteDeepika Sharma
It was a difficult poem, Deepika, to summarise. Grief is more difficult to express in words, and for the poet, it must have been excruciating, given the circumstance of the little boy's death. Thank you for reading and appreciating!
DeleteSuch a profound and heart wrenching poem. Loved your analysis.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Purba. An emotionally wrenching poem to interpret. Death is always so final. Thank you for reading and appreciating.
Deletesuch beautiful poem
ReplyDeleteYes, Harshita, beautiful and heartbreaking! Thank you.
DeleteWhat you said about the poet whispering the words in your ear, I felt that while reading this one.
ReplyDeleteI loved that idea myself, Suchita. Imagine age-old voices whispering in our ears... such a profound idea. Isn't that exactly what poetry is?
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