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From section 2, Childhood, of Saltian
Why this, why that?
By Alice Shapiro
Why halt before the flame?
Why embrace the rain?
It is strange, awesome
and a wee ugly
like mud-pies and that first dirty
smoke.
The child opens up a closet door
the drawer flowered with appliqués
a white porcelain box that hides a locket.
She touches, looks, explores.
Questioning small things
that go ignored
by aged eyes and tired visions
she soaks in more, and more
becomes
the answer
Critique
By Sarah Endo
I love the description of ” … small things/that go ignored/by aged eyes and tired visions.” To me, this is the beating center of the poem, providing the perfect contrast to the girl’s fresh, curious eyes, and her instinct to question and explore.
I love the wonderful details, a drawer flowered with appliqués and a “white porcelain box that hides a locket”—a sphinx wrapped in an enigma! I picture a child exploring a grandmother’s house full of beguiling antique secrets.
The opening lines of the second stanza: “It is strange, awesome/and a wee ugly” are the most challenging part of the poem for me. Specifically, I am not sure what “It” refers to, and if “a wee ugly” is meant to mimic a child’s diction. The rest of the poem clearly and engagingly invites the reader into the eyes of a child.
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Sarah Endo lives in Massachusetts with her family. Her poems have been published online at vox poetica and Literary Mama, and in unbound CONTENT anthologies.
