07-24-2016, 09:54 AM
yes, i think this is a very good poem. and it most certainly isn't a child's tantrum. however, unlike Leanne, i did read it as being about a young girl and mother.
the scene is very cinematic. full of almost lynchean symbolism. we have the highway, direction, time, potential and possibility. but our characters are stopped, parked, looking across it, surveying the land. the heron alone, or a young girl ready to make her own way in the world (along the highway), but with the arrogance of the heron (as if all fields belonged to youth), wanting to be individual. . . and yet, for a moment, the separation disappears like the snow melting. they share a communion in silence, and words are alienating. very beautifully written. i likes it.
in relation to achebe's comments, although the "no one cares about you and your. . . whatever" can be a valid criticism in, actually, quite a lot of cases, this one does a great job of describing a specific which reveals a more general truth or, as the word truth is a bit iffy, let's say "experience". and this truth or experience is applicable to a significant number of people, at least enough to make the statement "no one cares" redundantly hyperbolic.
fanks.
the scene is very cinematic. full of almost lynchean symbolism. we have the highway, direction, time, potential and possibility. but our characters are stopped, parked, looking across it, surveying the land. the heron alone, or a young girl ready to make her own way in the world (along the highway), but with the arrogance of the heron (as if all fields belonged to youth), wanting to be individual. . . and yet, for a moment, the separation disappears like the snow melting. they share a communion in silence, and words are alienating. very beautifully written. i likes it.
in relation to achebe's comments, although the "no one cares about you and your. . . whatever" can be a valid criticism in, actually, quite a lot of cases, this one does a great job of describing a specific which reveals a more general truth or, as the word truth is a bit iffy, let's say "experience". and this truth or experience is applicable to a significant number of people, at least enough to make the statement "no one cares" redundantly hyperbolic.
fanks.