Someone to comfort her June 22, 2012
It would be easy to read into this poem what may not really
be there, partly because of the unusual point of view she uses as opposed to
other poems she has posted previously.
Unlike many of her other poems that seek to do away with overt
characterization by eliminating pronouns or by converting them into a form that
seems devoid of a persona, here, she doesn’t just the opposite, using a plural
pronoun that on a superficial level might suggest two separate characters
rather than two aspects to a single persona instead.
Instead of the “inner” and “outer” voices which some of her
earlier poems have suggested, we get side by side personas, one apparently on
the edge of panic, while the other exerting its influence for calm.
There is a temptation to assign this second, calming voice
to another person, some kind and generous lover who offers her aid when she is
most upset.
But the poem itself does not support this idea, suggesting
rather a second persona is a kind of internal guide that keeps her on an “even
keel.”
As with her previous poem, this poem seems to talk about her
struggled to get back to some starting point, only when she reaches it,
something happens it take it away, take her breath away.
While one part of her panics, the other part remains calm
and soothing, helping her to breath easy again, both sides working together,
slow deep breaths, steading her again.
The poem opens with an image so powerful; it can’t be
ignored.
“Whip cracks down.”
This Implies slave labor rather than the mundane day to day tyranny
of a typical work place, with a slave master, rather than just a boss, and the
grinding of hard labor rather than just that of a time clock or a hamster wheel.
It may well reflect her reaction to the return of our boss
from maternity leave, and a push to do more aggressive stories (as indicated by
one story about the state senator and medical benefits for his cronies.) It is
impossible to tell for certain what motivated this harsh opening. But it a
clear statement that she feels abused and misused and is struggling to deal
with the reverberations with the other voice – and here again I’m tempted to associate
this with another person, someone else in the office who is providing her
comfort, holding her, engaged in the in and out that allows her to remain calm.
The poem goes from acute to calm, from the crack of a whip
to the slow in and out beathing, this second character bringing peace to her in
her time of need to keep things “even.”
The use of the term “taking breath away” has a number of
possible meanings, often associated with the love-struck, although here clearly
it implies panic or terror.
The poem suggests the crack of the whip comes at a time when
she just managed to pull herself together, when “we caught our breath,” or
perhaps that starting point she refers to in the previous point where she has hopes
to advance only to someone take it away,” and her comfort came from “Someone,” “Somewhere
else” helping her to breathe easy “And it’s ours, too.”
The collective breathing, the in and out, the rise and fall
that somehow counters the negative, leaving her in a place or space no better
or worse than where she started.
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