This poem pays exquisite detail to imagery, as well as emotion. The movement in this poem is free flowing, and generously give you possibilities to imagine the setting.
More importantly, I think this poem sets up an argument and validation of the girls who love horses. There is often a stigma attached to girls who are "horse loving" but often times these girls are the most drive, and least likely to take on activities such as drugs and alcohol. I think Rekdal is recognizing and appreciating the love of horses through this poem. I remember being in school and people gossiping about the girls who loved horses, and this poem, addresses this whether directly, or indirectly by saying "he was smarter than most of the children I went to school with." This line encompasses a core emotion many horse loving girls have felt, and there is a sense of chastisement in the way the line is stated, as if she is proving the horses worthiness to be loved.
I think Rekdal also illustrates the mystery that comes along with the horse -
More importantly, I think this poem sets up an argument and validation of the girls who love horses. There is often a stigma attached to girls who are "horse loving" but often times these girls are the most drive, and least likely to take on activities such as drugs and alcohol. I think Rekdal is recognizing and appreciating the love of horses through this poem. I remember being in school and people gossiping about the girls who loved horses, and this poem, addresses this whether directly, or indirectly by saying "he was smarter than most of the children I went to school with." This line encompasses a core emotion many horse loving girls have felt, and there is a sense of chastisement in the way the line is stated, as if she is proving the horses worthiness to be loved.
I think Rekdal also illustrates the mystery that comes along with the horse -
" I lovedwhat was not slave or instinct, that when you turn to me
it is a choice, it is always a choice to imagine pleasure
might be blended, one warmth
bleeding into another as the future
bleeds into the past, more light, more light,
your hand against my shoulder, the image
of the one who taught me disobedience
is the first right of being alive."
it is a choice, it is always a choice to imagine pleasure
might be blended, one warmth
bleeding into another as the future
bleeds into the past, more light, more light,
your hand against my shoulder, the image
of the one who taught me disobedience
is the first right of being alive."
Although, I do think there is more going on in this poem, heartbreak, perhaps? The last line makes me think about cheating, although this may be a very incorrect interpretation.
(Off-topic note: In my experience, there is a note of jealousy to schoolchildren's standard ostracization of "girls who like horses." Most families cannot afford to put their kids in equestrian sports—riding horses at all is a luxury in many areas!—and so follows the unfortunate combination of isolation in the few girls who experience it regularly, and the stigma of being more privileged than the pack.)
ReplyDeleteI am extremely interested in your interpretation of this poem as one that is also about infidelity. I didn't pick up on that possibility at all at first, but your suggestion in conjunction with Rekdal's later poems that are more overtly about broken relationships (I'm thinking specifically of "Flowers From a New Love After the Divorce") breaks ground for the interpretation.
Rekdal seems to be blending the description of the horse, which inflicts pain upon her through its rejection, with that of her lover. Someone told me once that love is the most valuable thing in the world because it's the only thing that can't be bought; it's only given, always, and here we have a speaker who understands (too) well that a living creature can't be forced to respond in the ways we would like.
This idea of being at least somewhat ostracized because of a hobby is familiar to me, too, but in a vicarious way. My sister was in competitive gymnastics for a number of years, and though she never personally received flack for it, the gymnastics community of girls and their moms was viewed as a snob club, which it certainly was regarding some of its members. And when I was younger, I personally have felt jealousy of girls who had or rode horses since my family couldn't afford to.
ReplyDeleteThere is no clear indication that the poem is about infidelity, but it certainly is about a romantic relationship which is in question in the speaker's mind. I'm not ready to pounce on the idea of infidelity (even though there is a flavor to the text which makes one wonder) since all her talk of "disobedience" seems more likely to refer to human/animal nature's tendency to be self-ruled and partly uncontrollable. She has no guarantee that, if she takes up this person in a more serious relationship, they will always do, feel, or be, how/what she wants them to. However, she has the possibility of happiness with them before her, and this is exciting.