Andrew Square

[71degrees]

"let the poem come to you for what it is, not for what you want it to be."

Well yes, I could do that, if there were some clear/little/tiny line of demarcation, between here and there to indicate that. How am I as a reader suppose to know that is what is happening? Plus with the odd little exchange going on at the end it makes one think, ah, something else is going on here. Yes, I could take it that way, as just some guy daydreaming, except there is really nothing in the poem that would lead me to that conclusion. Not to be mean, but I think it is really less than the courageous way out to blame the failure of a poem on the reader(certainly we all have either done this or wanted to do so, I know I have, but it does little to develop any decent rapport between writer and reader). If you have to come back after the reading and explain the poem as you did to both myself and Eluoh ( "Forget the grammar end of it and picture a man looking at a young woman and the first man imagining what she did last night ") then that really speaks to a weakness in the poem, not a lack in the reader.

Dale

Again, thanks. I only did it b/c you indicated the message/intent had "bypassed" you. As a reader you would never know what is happening in all poems b/c poetry is not meant to be a clear cut medium. Robert Frost agreed w/any and all interpretations of his poems, now matter how odd they were b/c poetry is art and is meant to be interpreted as any work of art would be. I don't have a clue why Mona Lisa is smiling. I don't even know if it's a smile, nor do I need to know. Now, I am not comparing this poem to the Mona Lisa, but the same logic applies. I continue to appreciate any and all comments. I appreciate yours.