The Power of Poetry
Review of “Tookoff”
the poem by NEBOH
The poet has a deep passionate love for nature and his protagonist. The poem is compassionate and evocative in how it reflects on their doomed romance. The imagery diction is beautiful and poetic, but sometimes some words seem to be “dumbed down” — such as “fluff my feathers.” A younger audience would readily understand this poetic language because of the “poetic abstraction.” The characters are very well crafted. I also love how the writer reflects on their romance, which is ended tragically by war. The comparison between war and peace is very pertinent, but the last line has caused me to reflect on how “peace” is not always something that can be attained, but it’s only through the practice of peace that we can hope for peace. The war in this poem is the war of nature, of love. The speaker hopes that he will escape this war on the “brink of the grave.”
The setting of this poem is very well established. This seems to be a tropical forest or swamp. The swamp was mentioned as being moist. It has sappy undergrowth and very lush vegetation, with lots of things to sink into. There are also water birds scattered around, with many different kinds of sounds coming from them. It also feels like it’s nighttime because all the birds are noisier than regular/ timid than usual, so there is still light during the day, but it becomes less bright as night approaches. I think the poem is very appealing because it is very descriptive and makes you feel like you are actually in the swamp amongst the birds.
This poem also shows how I think the writer feels about his girlfriend (his existential love). The speaker says that he has never felt quite like he did for her. He mentions “my sweet Bird,” which makes me think about how this girl must have been very special to him. He also seems to be understanding why she threw him away, indicating that their relationship was not perfect. He says that she called him “Wrist band,” which I thought was quite endearing, implying that they really had a good friendship. This is also unlikely, according to the speaker, because he was her boyfriend. He also understands why she rejected him, so maybe they did not have the best relationship. This poem has a lot of symbolism and imagery used. The lover is basically an autumn dream, and each stanza symbolizes something different about them and how they feel towards each other: passion, despair, beauty, and death. They say that their kiss will unbind her love and wings so they can fly away from war forever. It is also symbolic because it shows how war is not soft or beautiful. These lovers are not just the ordinary kind of couple. Their love for each other is deeper than that. This can be seen in the imagery of “beats” her “wings.” They also say that they will sleep on love, showing that even though they will die in battle, they will still have a loving memory to fall asleep with. The last line of each stanza shows us how he believes in beauty and how he believes in his love for her.
I enjoyed this poem very much. It was very memorable, and I enjoyed all the different kinds of symbolism used throughout the poem.
NEBOH, thank you for being with us in the publication & thank you for giving us a moment to be a part of your poetry. You are welcome to share another bit of your poetry through “The Power of Poetry” publication.
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