Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Silence by Casey Peterson

It

Creeps up

And

Covers

Everything else

Around it.

The

Loudness of

Nothing

Is deafening.

So heavy

You can't

Move--

Even if

You

Wanted to.

Its

Intensity

Shakes

You to

Your

Very core.

It is your

Muted

Soul

Screaming out

For

A savior.

It is

The way

You

Feel

When it

Starts to

Rain.

It is

The worst

Kind

Of

Hurt.

It is

Being

So stunned

You can't

Think

Straight.

And

As it

Came,

It is

Gone.

8 comments:

Jeremy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jeremy said...

I liked the part about "feeling it when it starts to rain," however, "screaming out for a savior" feels confused.

Drew Nute said...

I particularly like the lines, "Loudness of / Nothing." This goes along great with our class discussion about how silence can be overwhelming. The line breaks do seem a bit awkward to me, but, depending on how the poet wants her poem to be read, they may or may not be appropriate.

Hoss said...

I completely agree with Drew when he touched on the "Loudness of nothing" bit. I really like the layout of the poem, I think it takes a different angle at silence as more of a sporatic nature. That was kind of what I was getting at of pieces of though kind of adding themselves together to form a thought. Yet another thought or "cognitive burst" interjects right afterwards.

Keaten LaBrel said...

Good poem. I agree with Hoss, the poem's layout really attacks a different angle of silence. I like it. It follows what Danny touched on a little in class, that is its short lines and line breaks without punctuation aid a lot to the silence of the poem (at least for me). I really like the lines "It is your Muted Soul Screaming out" because it too goes along with our discussion about how silence can be overwhelming.

Autumn said...

Casey-
This poem really brings out the loudness of silence. I think it would be a lot more powerful if you took out the you's, and some ands. This would leave a little more room for imagination on the reader's part and make the voice of the poem more intense.

danny said...

I agree with autumn. I think this poem really does a good job at illustrating how truly loud silence can be. Placing one word per line is a good strategy if the loudness is what you want to get across, (keaton). And i also, like jeremy, think that "the way / you / feel / when it / starts to / rain" is the strongest moment in the poem for me. It gives the reader a very tangible sense of what you are talking about, as opposed to the lines that follow, "It is / the worst / kind / of / hurt." These lines, and some others like them do not carry the same weight. I don't feel like there is anything i can really grab on to. Try and think of the hurt you are refering to, that is specific to you, and i think you would be surprised how many others that specific experience can touch.

Shelbie said...

I really enjoyed that the poem was kept in a single column. It makes the poem easier to keep "quiet" while your reading through it.