"beware   :   do not read this poem" - Ishmael Reed

Ishmael Reed (1932-) is an American poet, playwright, novelist, and editor who is best known for his works satirizing American culture. He often tried to represent the perspective of neglected and oppressed African Americans, and the perspective of the neglected in general.

"beware   :   do not read this poem"

tonite   ,   thriller was

abt an old woman   ,   so vain she

surrounded herself w /

    many mirrors

it got so bad that finally she


locked herself indoors & her


whole life became the

    


mirrors

one day the villagers broke


into her house   ,   but she was too


swift for them   .   she disappeared

    


into a mirror

each tenant who bought the house

after that   ,   lost a loved one to


    the old woman in the mirror:


    first a little girl


    then a young woman


    then the young woman / s husband

the hunger of this poem is legendary


it has taken in many victims


back off from this poem


it has drawn in yr feet


back off from this poem


it has drawn in yr legs


back off from this poem


it is a greedy mirror


you are into this poem   .   from

    


the waist down

nobody can hear you can they   ?

this poem has had you up to here


    belch

this poem aint got no manners

you cant call out from this poem

relax now & go w /    this poem

move & roll on to this poem


do not resist this poem


this poem has your eyes


this poem has his head


this poem has his arms


this poem has his fingers


this poem has his fingertips


this poem is the reader & the


reader the poem


statistic   :   the US bureau of missing persons reports  

   that in 1968 over 100,000 people disappeared leaving no solid clues


                         nor trace     only

      a space        in the lives of their friends

This   poem seems to b  a  beast  ,  in it -/ self   . It relies mostly upon the structures of rhyme and stanza, or rather lack of, to portray itself as a primitive and deadly force with which to be reckoned. The first and second stanzas are fractal and broken in nature. The large amount of space between each punctuation mark and the next word breaks up the stanza and forces the reader to pause at each break and consider the idea of loss. In this way it causes uneasiness, mimicking the speech of a primitive beast trying to communicate. It also illustrates the panicked mindset of someone of someone who cannot think cohesively, having to confront the beast. The constant enjambment, in addition to works missing vowels (ex. “abt” for about), further distort the stanza, mimicking the incomplete thoughts a mindless monster would piece together in an attempt to form a full thought. Also, any mention of the mirrors or of anyone absorbed into one is indented. This slight shift represents the surreal and supernatural nature of the mirrors, signaling that total immersion in anything, including poetry, can cause an isolation depriving one’s self of the real world. When the poem does begin to organize lines in a standard fashion, it only issues warnings. The fact that these warnings are issued in relatively solid stanzas with almost no enjambment makes the message more cohesive and therefore stronger and more forceful, as if it has power over the reader. The repetition of multiple lines, such as “back off from this poem” and the alliteration present in the often repeated line “This poem has your [body part]” quicken the pace the reader reads at, increasing the urgency and panic felt. The final stanza form is entirely different from that of the rest of the poem, adding to the discord the poem displays. It names a statistic, mentioning that the disappearing people leave behind “only a space” such as the large pages breaking up the stanza. This mention of spaces relates back to the entire poem, and warns against self absorption as it can be a monster preventing one form participating in the human race, just as the mirrors and the poem suck in people.

"At the Hospital" - David Ferry

David Ferry (1924-) is an American writer, poet, and translator who has won many awards, such as the Lenore Marshall prize, Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry the Bingham Poetry Prize, etc. He is most well known for his translations of Horace, Virgil, and other classical authors.

"At the Hospital"

She was the sentence the cancer spoke at last,

Its blurred grammar finally clarified.

This poem about cancer relies almost entirely upon metaphor and symbolism to provide meaning due to its extreme brevity. It is first stated that “she was the sentence the cancer spoke”. “She” could be any patient, or anyone. “She,” however, most likely refers to death, as things related to cancer often do. The ambiguous meaning of “sentence” gives it two symbolic meanings. It is either a group of words that conveys a message, or a declaration of punishment. It conveys to the reader both the anxiety and uncertainty of having cancer (the group of words) and the suffering of unjust punishment (death through cancer). In this way, it adds to the serious, reverent tone. One personification acting as a metaphor is that “cancer spoke at last”. The disease is mute, but it carries a great solemnness and power that forces us to acknowledge it. Here, cancer’s “blurred grammar” is mentioned. Not only does cancer mimic other diseases, it also is hard to predict and can return to those cured of it. However, the grammar “finally clarified,” implies that the patient has passed away, as that is the only state in which cancer offers any certainty. This also helps to create the solemn tone. The two-line form of the poem itself is a metaphor. It relates to a message a doctor might give to the family of the deceased – “I am sorry to inform you/ that the patient has passed”. This further helps to solidify the serious, somber tone of the poem. The brief nature of the poem also testifies to the brevity of life, especially when cancer is involved.