| User | Chrisv | | Topic | A Visit | | Message | Gone are the days
when you could walk on water.
When you could walk.The days are gone.
Only one day remains,
the one you’re in.The memory is no friend.
It can only tell you
what you no longer have:a left hand you can use,
two feet that walk.
All the brain’s gadgets.
Hello, hello.
The one hand that still works
grips, won’t let go.
That is not a train.
There is no cricket.
Let’s not panic.Let’s talk about axes,
which kinds are good,
the many names of wood.This is how to build
a house, a boat, a tent.
No use; the toolboxrefuses to reveal its verbs;
the rasp, the plane, the awl,
revert to sullen metal.Do you recognize anything? I said.
Anything familiar?
Yes, you said. The bed.Better to watch the stream
that flows across the floor
and is made of sunlight,the forest made of shadows;
better to watch the fireplace
which is now a beach.
I understand the meaning of the first little bit, but when I get to the line "That is not a train" I get real confused. I would greatly appreciate any feedback to the meaning of this poem by Margaret Atwood. Thankyou in advance. |
|| Replies ||
| User | Solomon Disease | 2005-03-29 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | yeah -- it’s all left to the interpretation of the reader. the lines -- that is not a train/there is no cricket, are basically saying this dude is hearing things in the midst of his "condition". His condition could be anything you want to put your head to. For me -- i hear things too sometimes when there is nothing there, but that’s just me -- a little insane. so i took this poem to be about a person going crazy and finding "safety" or "security" in his bed and fireplace -- and everything else is just an annoyance of some sort. so in a way i suppose this insane person found peace -- that’s my interpretation ofcourse.
But it is most probably about getting old -- but who cares man? I like it better the way i saw it in my head -- how do u see it? |
| User | Learah | 2005-03-27 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | Sorry to cut that short but Batman is on and my son is yelling to come watch. |
| User | Learah | 2005-03-27 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | I think she’s talking about old age and the deteriation of many different aspects of mental stability. The key for me is in the toolbox; we have a saying "not the sharpest tool in the box". The toolbox has lost its verbs: there are no tools in the box at all any more.
The beginning, "when you could walk on water" says to me that this person was might and powerful; they were god-like.
The memories that have gone, left, and are unfriendly now in the present day, reminding the subject of their shortcomings. I said old age because of the gripping good hand; it suggests arthritis but now I am considering a stroke, too. It’s possible that it could be old age, alzheimers, arthritis, everything...
Its a very, very messy poem tho. |
| User | wewak11 | 2005-03-27 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | She could be talking about writer’s block
Or Alzheimer’s disease
Or having a stroke
Or going insane
Or a marriage break-up
It’s all in YOUR interpretation,
without asking the writer, you can only guess. |
| | |
