...Stevens..."What are you talking about?"

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Blackbird... this poem blew my mind! I could not find a connection with it at all. The numbers confused me, and the connection to man, woman, and tree. All of the pieces looked like a jigsaw puzzle to me. If you can shed some light to me about this one I would be more than grateful. This was not a good poem to open my world of Stevens poetry!

I then read Study of Two Pears, this was a poem that my imagination took flight with. I saw a vision of myself sitting in "Intro to Drawing" during my undergrad. schooling and thought of my teacher and the objects we would draw. The phrases and symbols all came rushing back into my head! This poem teleported me back to 2005, to one of the most eye opening and out of the box classes I have ever taken. This was a class out of my element. I was out of my social circle of friends, and into a classroom that looked nothing like any one I had been in. It was FANTASTIC! I loved it, I could be or do anything I pleased. My drawings set me free to explore a new realm of art I had not before. This poem seems very free and open to interruptions, just like the class. The pears are objects to be drawn, however they may not appear on your paper the way they look on the pedestal in front of you.

This poem restored my faith in Stevens as a poet! I must read more like this one!
CJ