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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