When I read this poem as part of our assignments this week I found it long winded and boring. I read it more than once and even though I understood the message that Koch was presenting, I thought he could have gotten his point across in a much shorter dialogue. I was glad that I was given the task of listening to him recite his poem. Hearing it, rather than just staring at the words made the meaning more apparent. Listening to Koch recite the poem was a bit more enjoyable. One thing that I noticed was that I did not even notice the line at the top "sign at a railroad crossing in Kenya" when I read the poem and then realized how important it was when the poem was recited. The rambling that I first read took on a new tone, the poem still rambled but I came to feel that Koch was an intellectual who was just letting his feelings about so mny subjects spill out onto the paper. He wanted everyone to know that not everything is clear at first glance and that we should all take a step back and think before making a snap decision, because that decision could change our lives forever and not always for the best. The poem could probably have been reduced to several lines and had the same impact. The closing lines,
"You think, Now it is safe to cross and you are hit by the next one. It can be important; To have waited at least a moment to see what was already there.",make a very powerful statement.
Now that I have reread my post I think that Koch's rambling has rubbed off on me!
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Remember, keep the personal pronouns to a minimum in academic writing.
ReplyDeleteYes, this poem is longer, but not rambling. Each line has purpose, as this analysis shows. The signpost is the key to the poem because it's the poet's inspiration. I'm wonder why that last line you quoted is a powerful statement.