02-15-2014, 09:31 AM
So I think I should probably explain things a bit (usually it's never a good sign when a poem is followed by a paragraph explaining things, but I hope it'll help you guys get a better idea of this, which will help me improve, I reckon). Here's a blurb I wrote for myself at some point:
I always saw this as the narrator putting on “metaphorical blackface”. I picture him daydreaming one day and thinking “Why don't I give this whole 'walk a mile in someone else's shoes' thing a go?”, and then trying to imagine himself black, in an effort to empathize. Of course, this (in my mind) ends in absolute failure, and never really gets off the ground in the first place. Example: I have the narrator imagining himself doing exotic things, which has nothing to do with imagining what it's like to be someone else. Further, some of his imaginings are suspect (sleuth to a derelict warehouse, sitting by a palm tree...). As a last resort, the narrator just starts naming things that are black. He finally shrugs it off, lamenting "Ohh well, at least I tried this whole 'empathy' business."
fogglethorpe- Brilliant, I didn't realize the double meaning. Though Erthona makes a good point about adding "screen". We'll see.
Erthona- in S1, I was picturing the narrator holding up his finger to partially hide the moon. I imagined that the part of the finger hiding the moon would look black, but a different black then the night sky. I was trying to say that the stars (and perhaps the remaining sliver of moon) were nucleated by the black tones, like crystals are nucleated in some medium. Thinking on it again, I might have gotten things the wrong way around (good catch, thanks). The first nucleation example in wikipedia is sort of what I have in mind: "Clouds form when... small droplets nucleate from the supersaturated air".
I always saw this as the narrator putting on “metaphorical blackface”. I picture him daydreaming one day and thinking “Why don't I give this whole 'walk a mile in someone else's shoes' thing a go?”, and then trying to imagine himself black, in an effort to empathize. Of course, this (in my mind) ends in absolute failure, and never really gets off the ground in the first place. Example: I have the narrator imagining himself doing exotic things, which has nothing to do with imagining what it's like to be someone else. Further, some of his imaginings are suspect (sleuth to a derelict warehouse, sitting by a palm tree...). As a last resort, the narrator just starts naming things that are black. He finally shrugs it off, lamenting "Ohh well, at least I tried this whole 'empathy' business."
fogglethorpe- Brilliant, I didn't realize the double meaning. Though Erthona makes a good point about adding "screen". We'll see.
Erthona- in S1, I was picturing the narrator holding up his finger to partially hide the moon. I imagined that the part of the finger hiding the moon would look black, but a different black then the night sky. I was trying to say that the stars (and perhaps the remaining sliver of moon) were nucleated by the black tones, like crystals are nucleated in some medium. Thinking on it again, I might have gotten things the wrong way around (good catch, thanks). The first nucleation example in wikipedia is sort of what I have in mind: "Clouds form when... small droplets nucleate from the supersaturated air".