This week I enjoyed reading Charles Simic’s poems from “The
World Doesn’t End.” Prose poetry speaks to me differently than ones that follow
a metric pattern. I feel as thought it
is more personal and can be just as allusive. One poem that I enjoyed
especially was on page eight. The narration from animalistic point of view
reminded me of Life of Pi, in which characters are masked as animals to promote
their specific archetype. The systematic relationship created by this
constructed food chain shed light on the type of relationship the son/daughter has
with their mother. The mother as the feline uses her son/daughter as bait in
order to catch food (metaphorically it could be money, success, any association
with greed and egotism). She is willing to have her child eaten alive by the
mouse (or what the mouse figuratively represents), in order to consume her
meal. The mother leaves her child in the cellar for years (this could also be
allegorical yet still represent isolation or isolation from his/her mother).
Simic does not leave many clues as to who are “pacing upstairs, tossing and
turning in their beds.” Presumably, it is the rest of the family going on with
their lives without her/him. Another intriguing point is when the mouse nibbles
on her/his ears stating, “These are dark and evil days.” This makes me wonder who
the mouse representative of? Or a person in the family or a wicked element?
Overall, I believe it is centered on an abusive relationship, in which the
mother uses her child to get what she desires and has an apathetic feelings
toward her child.
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