Here's another one :o

[DanFC]

I want to keep the flow of poems on this site flowing, so here was one I recently did:

======================================

An Obituary

GERALD HUGHES, 33, of Cambridge, Massachusetts,
was found dead in the bathtub
of his apartment yesterday late afternoon.
Early reports indicate he drowned in the morning,
Possibly while intoxicated.
Police are thoroughly investigating
If this was a suicide as there
Were notes of trash scribbled around
The apartment possibly indicating as much.
Gerald had been battling major depression
And bouts of schizophrenic illnesses.
He was a professor at Leslie University
Where he taught Modern Philosophy
And Philosophy and Logic.
He had a twin brother, whom the authorities have yet to locate.
Gerald’s father will be holding the memorial service.

JIMINY HUGHES, 33, of Vineland, New Jersey,
Was found dead behind his
Apartment complex yesterday morning.
Authorities believe he fell from the building roof.
Tenants in the complex said
They heard “violent shouts" from
His apartment the night before,
Giving way to suspicious circumstances.
However, Jiminy had suffered
A serious head injury last winter
In a workplace construction accident.
He developed dissociative amnesia and
Authorities claim he may have accidentally
Wandered to the rooftop away from his wife
And fell while in a state of confusion.
Jiminy is survived by his wife and a 6 year old son.
He had a twin brother, whom the authorities have yet to locate.

========================================


This one is actually pretty complex.

 

[DanFC]

Really, no one? Fine, I'll just copy and paste what I wrote to someone else when explaining this:

I made it with the polarization in mind of what would be the two worst realizations for a person: knowing exactly who he is and being completely oblivious and certain implications of this that I'll discuss later, I may as well detail it all here. You don't have to read it, it's just nice to have my crazy thoughts out of my head every once in a while

The first guy is the one who knows exactly what he is, hinted at by the fact he teaches philosophy, his depression (depressive realism, which has some scientific ground, I had to do a paper on it, lol), where he's located (one of the most educated cities in the US), and the notes that would seem like they were from a madman by society, but made complete sense to him and anyone else who would have had the realizations. He was only a man, he had no filial connections and no love. He realized the ridiculousness of the situation, of exactly what he was, and his cowardice. So, knowing he could never kill himself, he got himself drunk to release his inhibitions so he could fight back against himself. Drunk and drowning = excessiveness, particularly excessive thought. Of course, with how the media prints it, society views him as just "giving up", but that's not it at all.

The second one has the amnesia and so is completely lost. His hometown here is also a reference to this, as that part of NJ is one of the least educated cities of the US. I also had a little fun with his occupation; as a result of a job in construction he himself was "destructed". Anyways, back to his death: after a fight with his wife he realizes how lost he is, how his confusion is near absolute, and before it goes any further he kills himself. Falling = lapse, which could be a lapse of thought or a falling into his own obliviousness. The media though spins it as a sob story.

See the irony here? Even though there is a polarization of thought, they both go under the same thought process regardless of past experience (education/no education), and the conclusion by either route is the same.

The fact that the two are twins and their names are closely related to Gemini, and the previously mentioned fact that this is an obituary, not obituaries, implies that these two entities are actually the polarization of one mind split between sobering enlightenment and taunting confusion, and the ends of the individuals indicates that the two may be one and the same.

So there's my analysis of my own piece (Also, kudos to you if you get the reference for their last name and their ages.)

 

[Lorraine Manca]

your poem reminds me of a poet that tried to write a poem for every tombstone in a fictitious graveyard, a lot of them are hilarious its like they are all in their graves chatting with eachother, but now i cant think of the poets name or the name of the collection! ah!

spoon river anthology! i just looked over the poems, early 1900's, its not a very flattering show of human nature, more pathetic than tragic, but still a cool idea

 

[Lorraine Manca]

This poem was included in the original 1915 edition. Robert Fulton Tanner

If a man could bite the giant hand
That catches and destroys him,
As I was bitten by a rat
While demonstrating my patent trap,
In my hardware store that day.
But a man can never avenge himself
On the monstrous ogre Life.
You enter the room that's being born;
And then you must live work out your soul,
Of the cross-current in life
Which Bring honor to the dead, who lived in shame.

 

[Lorraine Manca]

Constance Hately, what a name

YOU praise my self-sacrifice, Spoon River,
In rearing Irene and Mary,
Orphans of my older sister!
And you censure Irene and Mary
For their contempt for me!
But praise not my self-sacrifice,
And censure not their contempt;
I reared them, I cared for them, true enough!-
But I poisoned my benefactions
With constant reminders of their dependence.

 

[DanFC]

Oh wow, I really liked the first one. I found the whole thing and I liked it even more, one of my new favorite pieces. It really speaks to the, as how you so aptly put it, the pathetic futility of our existence. The other was excellent as well, exemplifying the cruel duality that often infects our actions.

Now you've forced me to read the whole anthology