Word: poemes
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...strangeness, Strand's room uses a poem about poetry effectively...
...FIRST came upon a style similar to Orr's while sitting in the waiting-room of a doctor's office. Appearing in the New Yorker was a single poem by Mark Strand called "The Room." It describes a place much like that waiting-room: antiseptic, empty, bereft of any outward emotion, full of silent anticipation. A sense of detachment in the short, simple lines emphasizes an underlying presence of death and sorrow. And Strand's dreamlike collection of everyday objects paradoxically works to produce a coherent poem. Orr's poetry used the same simplicity, the same etherial contrast of commonplace...
Conveniently, Orr has also written a poem entitled "The Room." Since both poems are statements about poetry, the room being the poem, a comparison between the two can show how Orr departs from reality, and what makes that departure so attractive. As you "enter" Strand's "room," a strange one-sided dialogue ensues: he puts questions to you are thinking. While he recognizes his own place in the poem, he remains "at the back/of the room." The words themselves have to do the job of the poetry, to 'fit' the reader...
...mysterious way, something does happen. The idea of the poem as a room where the poet lingers but can never be fully seen sets just the right mood of alienation for its message. It's a simple statement, but what could not work well alone, comes off nicely here...
...collection of worn-out retreads now. The old man recommends selling the whole country to Japan, because "they're going to get it anyway." He urges a halt to the spinning of the earth, so that "we all won't be so dizzy and nauseous." And he recites a poem that looking back on it I enjoyed...