Reacm summarize and analyze reading below Perhaps the great error is believing w
ID: 3444696 • Letter: R
Question
Reacm summarize and analyze reading below
Perhaps the great error is believing we’re alone, That the others have come and gone—a momentary blip— When all along, space might be choc-full of traffic, Bursting at the seams with energy we neither feel Nor see, flush against us, living, dying, deciding, Setting solid feet down on planets everywhere, Bowing to the great stars that command, pitching stones At whatever are their moons. They live wondering If they are the only ones, knowing only the wish to know, And the great black distance they—we—flicker in. Maybe the dead know, their eyes widening at last, Seeing the high beams of a million galaxies flick on At twilight. Hearing the engines flare, the horns Not letting up, the frenzy of being. I want to be One notch below bedlam, like a radio without a dial. Wide open, so everything floods in at once. And sealed tight, so nothing escapes. Not even time, Which should curl in on itself and loop around like smoke. So that I might be sitting now beside my father As he raises a lit match to the bowl of his pipe For the first time in the winter of 1959
Explanation / Answer
This paragraph talks about the Human expectation and grief by the juxtaposition of The Universe. The affect of othering can also be a hidden underlying message in this poem. Othering is when you only believe in and are understanding towards the clan, religion, race or country you belong to, and the rest of the cultures and races are considered as others.
The writer is clearly trying to make a point by saying that we aren't alone by her opening line. It is a wistful stanza that almost craves for unity that is seen by the following lines: "I want to be One notch below bedlam, like a radio without a dial. Wide open, so everything floods in at once. And sealed tight, so nothing escapes."
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