The magic in this poem lies in not only the multiple supernatural occurrences, but in their placement in the story, one happening after the next. When you think it can't get any worse, boy were you wrong.
"When they burn your house down, you stand in the front yard to watch with the neighbors."
The worst part of a mental breakdown is how your sane self has to watch your insane self take over. You're standing there, next to everyone else, watching your own life crumble, as though you're not the one crumbling. Because you're not you.
The magic in this poem, to me, is its ability to convey emotion truer than if its happenings weren't a lie. There is no girl-shaped puddle of salt water all dressed up. There are no hermit crabs scuttling out from your mother's head. Kids at school did not cut gills into your torso, and you did not turn into a shark. But to anyone who was ever raped, harassed, abused, bullied, depressed, or experienced any kind of dark emotion that resonates with this poem, all that these supernatural events convey is true. The emotion is natural, and thus, the natural is brought forth, out of the unnatural.
Claire--I am so happy someone else is obsessed with this poem like me! This poem could be a Pink Floyd song. Reading your interpretation, I should have thought more about the supernatural events that were occurring in the poem, like the father crying himself into a puddle of wet sand. I like how you say that the events are true; truth is a touchy subject because there is not one, but many for all of the versions people choose to believe in. For a kid being driven mad, I agree with you, this is the truth. The ocean is all around; he IS a shark.
ReplyDeletePayton-- I was actually listening to an old Modest Mouse track while reading the poem so that may have contributed to my tears. I think it was "Baby Blue Sedan" "Medication" or "Bankrupt on Selling." Regardless it was a really good combination. You should check out their lyrics if you liked the poem.
ReplyDeleteHi Claire,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this poem by Rachel McKibbens as well. I felt like many of the metaphors were very witty, and there seems to be a lot of personal hidden meanings. As we read more poetry, I find that there are millions of different ways to say different ideas indirectly or directly. For example, "The bad news drops your mother to the pharmacy floor." WOW, yeah, very clever line. The medication used to calm her nerves because her daughter is going through rough times, and the mother may feel responsible or hopeless in this situation. The triages the girl is going through (possibly) is making her mother become addicted and overdose on medication.
Another piece of imagery I liked is when her teeth fall out. The interpretation of teeth falling out in dreams has been widely covered in psychology. Freud associates this symbol to sexual references, such sexual repression. Jung believes it is a symbol of personal power and the ability to renew oneself. The loss or the process of releasing the old to give place to the new.