Erotic. That was the first word that came to mind when I read Levertov's "The Poem Unwritten". I connected to her intense sexual desire for this other person she wanted so badly. It didn't matter much to me that she was a female talking about a male - the passion is the same I have felt before. Each word of the poem is delicious. I can feel every sensation she wants me to feel on the body of her lover. The most magnificent thing about the poem, though, is the reverence with which she treats the act of making love to her husband. To Levertov, sex is a holy act. “stroking, sweeping, in the rite of/worship,” she writes, describing how she will touch him. For her it is so much more than a sport or a pastime. It’s more than just a selfish, pleasure-seeking game. It’s about love and the other person - a detail too often forgotten in our modern world. Levertov waits for marriage to consummate their love, refusing to let her desires taint her morals. While she calls the years that pass “a forest of giant stones, of fossil stumps” she knows someday her beautiful poem of love will be written. The imagery of the poem reminds me of the still of a young Claire Danes waiting for her Romeo is Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. All of those feelings are there in her face: desire, impatience, reverence, and just enough restraint to make it through to the night.
When reading the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks this week, I found myself struck by her range. She can write about abortion, youthful defiance, and the arrogance of the rich with ease and it never feels outside of her. The one thing each poem shares is her incredible insight into humanity - the way she sees people - not just on a surface level, but into the essence of their being. The poem that struck me the most was "The Bean Eaters." It's about an elderly couple nearing the end of life's journey as they sit together and eat dinner "Remembering, with tinklings and twinges" the details of their lives. I was instantly struck with the image of an old married couple I knew. They were regulars at the Buffalo Wild Wings I worked at over the summer. They would come in, real sweet to everybody, sit down and hold hands as she played trivia and he watched sports. She was in a wheelchair, and he took care of her with pride and unconditional love. Whispers were abound in the restaurant whenever they showed up. "I hope I find somebody like that," or "That's what I want my life to be like" could be heard piercing the air. I searched for an image that captured this couple, and this painting by Dianne Dengel was the best I could find. It's an imperfect picture though. The couple in the image is smiling with the splendor of youth. The elderly couple I catered to had just as much joy, but happiness manifested itself in a different way in them. Behind the wrinkles, the sunspots, and the dark circles under the eyes that marked a long, well-lived life, there was a vibrance in the pupils. It looked like the embodiment of hope and peace, existing beyond the veil of the iris into the human soul. It's that feeling that Brooks evokes in her poem. Yes, this couple is comprised of "Two who have lived their day,/But keep on putting on their clothes/And putting things away" but they are more than that. They are teachers for all of us. For this generation of high-anxiety and crippling stress; of multitasking and the digital world; a generation that obsesses over interpersonal connection, but never really communicates with anyone. We are searching for answers and they have it figured out. They are the Bean Eaters. Maybe its time to order up some of those beans ourselves. What do you think?
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