07-23-2012, 04:51 AM
Rather a riddling poem, this one, penguin, which perhaps is suitable given the 'charades' of the title.
The first question I asked was whether the title should be taken as the subject for the first line / sentence. The capitalised 'Shrinks' suggests not. So how do we read the first sentence?
The image of the 'throat of the table' sounds concrete… yet I can't picture where a table's throat is at all. Perhaps the leg, but then how could something be stuck there? And is he stuck, or the notebook?
I'm afraid I don't really take much from this, as I have more questions than answers. I can kind of guess at what's being hinted at, but ultimately, the poem's abstractions mystify rather than enlighten.
The first question I asked was whether the title should be taken as the subject for the first line / sentence. The capitalised 'Shrinks' suggests not. So how do we read the first sentence?
The image of the 'throat of the table' sounds concrete… yet I can't picture where a table's throat is at all. Perhaps the leg, but then how could something be stuck there? And is he stuck, or the notebook?
I'm afraid I don't really take much from this, as I have more questions than answers. I can kind of guess at what's being hinted at, but ultimately, the poem's abstractions mystify rather than enlighten.