For this series of posts, we challenged ourselves to write an obscure-sounding poem with no intended meaning in mind. Then we all took turns analyzing each other’s poetry, to see if we could extract some meaning after the fact. It turns out, writing a truly meaningless poem is harder than it sounds!
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Swells
By Nicholas Sokol
Through the mitral swell is lost
A whisper in the dimming sun
Rasping in the gaping frost
Whilst edging through the sly fecund
Yearning through the verdant gleam
Ferning as at last it bows
And slips the lip in burning sheen
And garish pelted mossy throws
Nick’s Post-hoc Analysis:
This poem paints a picture of the planet Earth, gasping a final plea to its human inhabitants, its heartbeat fading as its crust freezes over. We see the last remnants of healthy green struggling to stay alive before finally “slipping the lip” and giving way to a post-apocalyptic state in which oil burns on the surfaces of the oceans in a “burning sheen”, and the last humans wear garish furrs as they trample the last of the living flora.
Stephen’s Analysis:
The first half of the poem introduces a whisper, in some winterish scenario. The mitral swell, I assume, is a heartbeat. So the dimming sun is death, and the whisper represents the last breath. But it also represents the last thoughts. On the verge of unconsciousness, or death, I've heard of a phenomenon where people are overwhelmed with happiness, or see something they love. So the last breath leaves with the last thought, fading into the welcoming embrace of nature, giving rise to new life as it enters the ground.
Sarah’s Analysis:
To me, it seems like... It's describing a secret. I don't know.
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