Scribbled Thoughts

The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy

Like with Simon Armitage I was lucky enough to attend a poetry reading Carol Ann Duffy was part of when I was studying at GCSE level. Duffy doesn’t instantly grip me the way Armitage does, but I usually find a few of her poems I love. This collection is no different.

The theme of bees is interesting because it explores both the fear of extinction and the hope of spring/new life/a colony.

The poems I really liked in this collection were:

Last Poet: describing how, if it were possible, a poet would tell history backwards, so all the soldiers that died would return. Duffy is great at creating a powerful image of the lives lost, and the helpless feeling we have because it can’t be changed.

Politics: This poem I love for the rhythm it has, a clear beat that carried you along and stirs your emotions as its pace gets quicker.

The Falling Soldier: This poem was inspired by a photo Robert Capa took of a falling soldier. Duffy beautifully describes his dying breath and what led him there.

The English Elms: We seek inspiration for life and our muse from nature/the elms, while they feel overwhelmed from the pressure. It’s a great, subtle way to examine how humans are overwhelming nature.

The Woman in the Moon: There is no man in the moon, but a woman. She is beyond Earth and death but watches human joy and grief. Each night when she returns she wonders what they’ve done to the world. I love this poem because it shows beings beyond life and death are still shocked by human’s destructive nature.

Cold: I just love the image of a snowball weeping in my hands. A great line.

Snow: This poem creates a powerful image of the dead releasing winter. The cold is something the living can’t outrun.

Music: A great way of explaining the power music can have on people.

Overall the poems I enjoyed the most were the ones looking at death or the destructive nature of humans. Duffy creates powerful images and settings to articulate her points, which stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.

Poem idea

20:112

A week of in-between

suspended between the

past and future.

Transition of uncertainty,

glancing back at pain,

but something familiar.

Will the future be the

same? Be better?

Or are you walking into

two years of hardship,

struggle that will

amount to nothing?

A week of unknowing,

a week of doubt,

and hope.

Seeing Stars by Simon Armitage

A poetry collection where the poems are structured like short stories, containing dark humour with a hidden meaning. They have a dream-like quality to them, everyday moments with extraordinary circumstances to them.

I’ve always liked Armitage’s work ever since studying him at GCSE level. I was lucky enough to attend a poetry reading he was part of on a school trip. I read more of his work at university but haven’t read Seeing Stars before. His work still has the magic quality I remember, where at the end of the poem you’re hit with an emotion/feeling you weren’t expecting, one that lingers. I usually have to pause for a minute between poems to mull over what it means to me and why I’ve reacted a certain way to it.

This collection feels like strange dreams. Each poem has a surreal feel to it, often taking a strange course, just like dreams do.

The poems that stood out to me and I enjoyed the most are:

An Accommodation: A couple are struggling and decide to place a net curtain down the middle of their house. They find it hard to adjust at first, but grow used to having separate lives. They still live together but never remove the dividing curtain.

For me the poem can represent how a person will stay with you and influence you even after a break-up, or if you live separate lives. It also represents that sometimes, even if you try to move on, you can’t escape certain people.

The Cuckoo: James Cameron, after his eighteenth birthday party, is told by his parents they aren’t really his parents, they’re actually actors. His whole family, his girlfriend and best friend are also actors. They all leave to find new acting job. James walks to the paddock, heartbroken. He sees a cuckoo fall and land near his feet. It flaps a few times but then dies. James then realises no matter how bad he feels there’s always someone worse off. He then notices the bird’s electric motor, wired wings and the spring sticking out of its mouth.

This is probably my favourite poem in the collection. It has such a surreal dream-like quality that I can imagine it as one of my own dreams, waking up and feeling real emotions it’s inflicted. This poem stirred me and continues to linger in my mind with its possibilities. It also helps reveal the sometimes overexaggerated insecurities we can have about the people and relationships around us, and whether what they feel for us is real or not.

What we Know Now: An elf tells Kevin that he’s exactly halfway through his life. The elf gives him the option to carry on with his life or have his hourglass flipped so he’d grow younger instead of older. Kevin refuses it, not wanting his wife to grow old alone. The elf calls him a gentleman and informs him he knows Annie, and she looks younger everyday.

I love this poem because it makes us question how much we could sacrifice for the ones we love and whether they would do the same.