SO WHAT
Guess what. If love is only chemistry- Phenylethylamine, that molecule that dizzies up the brain’s back room, smoky with hot bebop, it won’t be long until a single worker’s mopping up the scuffed 5 and littered floor, whistling tunelessly, each endorphin cooling like a snuffed glass candle, the air stale with memory. So what, you say; outside, a shadow lifts a trumpet from its case, lifts it like an ingot 10 and scatters a few virtuosic riffs toward the locked-down stores. You’ve quit believing that there’s more, but you’re still stirred enough to stop, and wait, listening hard. Kim Addonizio’s poem “So What” evokes a feeling of loneliness and struggle. When I first read the poem, it reminded me of unrequited love and loss. However, the second time I read it, I began to think more of drug addicts and their fight to remain clean. To support this claim, line 1 says that “love is only chemistry”. If love is such a good feeling, but is scientifically proven to be made up of chemicals, is it all of a sudden a lie? The most addicting substances in the world (i.e. drugs and the feeling of falling in love) are made up of pure compounds and neurotransmitters. Since their roots are in basic chemical structures, are they really so dangerous? Phenylethylamine (line 2) is a member of a class of chemicals that is known for its psychoactive and stimulative effects. It’s interesting that Addonizio would mention it in her poem because phenylethylamine is not an active compound in addictive drugs or the chemistry of love. So it’s not terrible, right? Lines 2-4 say, “that molecule that dizzies up the brain’s back room, smoky with hot bebop,” These lines support the fact that whatever the narrator is high on (be it romance or drugs), it causes a fulfilling feeling. The poem changes when Addonizio says “it won’t be long until a single worker’s mopping up the scuffed and littered floor,” meaning that while the high is enjoyable, it is short and the fall is painful. Lines 7-8 say, “each endorphin cooling like a snuffed glass candle, the air stale with memory.” The feelings from the intoxication are wading away and regrets from the previous emotional/physical high begin. The trumpet sound mentioned in line 11 is described as virtuosic and almost angelic, like a savior coming. The ending lines (12-14) confirm that this particular addiction is one that’s hard to quit. Every time you say that you’ve quit smoking, using, or being with that person, you find yourself right back where you began. The wake-up call from trumpet always sounds in your head, but it never stays long enough to keep you on track. I realized that love and drugs can both be dangerous and addicting (even though they are made up of innocent chemical compounds) and that the poem weaves these two things interchangeably. One line you think is referencing a lover and the next, a drug addict. Addonizio skillfully uses the similarities of both conditions to highlight the danger of falling in love and picking up a needle.
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Mermaid Song
for Aya at fifteen Damp-haired from the bath, you drape yourself upside down across the sofa, reading, one hand idly sunk into a bowl of crackers, goldfish with smiles stamped on. I think they are growing gills, swimming up the sweet air to reach you. Small girl, my slim miracle, they multiply. In the black hours when I lie sleepless, near drowning, dread-heavy, your face is the bright lure I look for, love's hook piercing me, hauling me cleanly up. Kim Addonizio’s poem, “Mermaid Song”, is about how her daughter is the very best thing in her life. The poem was written for her daughter, Aya, when Aya was 15. The poem starts out innocently, describing her daughter lounging around the couch eating a snack. “Damp-haired from the bath, you drape yourself upside down across the sofa, reading,” Even though Aya is just laying on the couch and snacking on goldfish crackers, her mother thinks she is almost like an angel. Addonizio calls Aya “my slim miracle”, for the first time inferring to the reader that Aya saved her mother’s life. I think that a shift occurs right before Addonizio starts describing "The black hours," The tone changes from bright and sweet to dark and passionate almost immediately. Addonizio says that at night when she's almost given up hope, “your face is the bright lure I look for, love’s hook piercing me, hauling me cleanly up.” That last line solidifies a mother’s love and how great it can be when it comes to her daughter. In all probability, Addonizio was depressed before Aya’s birth and that all changed once she was born. Aya can be seen as like a fisherman, using her love to reel her depressed mother back to the surface of life. The title “Mermaid Song” also refers to Aya. Mermaids are supposed to be these perfect, magical beings, and to Addonizio, Aya is the perfect being. |
SarahI'm an AP English student and high school senior who loves everything about lemons and Grey's Anatomy. This is my blog to talk about literature and everything English. Archives
March 2017
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