|
the night was busy making the moon
so i gathered my quilt and softly told my heart we'd come back tomorrow. —untitled, Nayirrah Waheed Nayirrah Waheed is a contemporary poet. She writes on very personal matters affecting women and African Americans and, more often, the intersection of the two, as well as on self confidence and being bold and outspoken and displaying fortitude and strength in being a woman. This poem, to me, is no exception to these themes, despite its vagueness and lack of a title (Waheed’s titles are usually concrete and powerful ideas, tying together and solidifying what the meaning of the poem is, creating an “Aha!” moment). The absence of a title is actually a very bold move– instead of Waheed using her work to control the narrative and declare her opinions on political matters as she usually does in her powerful self-assuredness through titles, she leaves the poem open-ended to the reader. All art is subjective, but this is particularly; amongst the absence of a title to distinguish concrete connections, the personification of the night in the first line, the distinction drawn between her and her heart, and the metaphor of the quilt, the meaning of this work is completely up for individual interpretation, as usual. My girl Nayirrah does a fantastic job at allowing her readers to sculpt and form her works to fit each individual self, letting us feel related to and therefore not-so-alone (but with the preferred audience being women, obviously). Personally, what I drew from this poem is that Waheed is relating herself as to being the day. “The night is busy making the moon,” and Waheed is making something as well, but leaves once night comes. This suggests that she is the day making the sun. The sun, like the quilt that is being made, spreads warmth and is symbolic of love and life, being patched together and passed through generations. Or, alternatively, she could just be another person, knitting a quilt. A quilt is made piece-by-piece, crafted with care and over a long period of time; it is always there to pick back up the next day if surrendered for the night. If life does not go well one day, wake back up, like the moon and the sun, and start again tomorrow. She "softly," gently, tells her heart that “we’d come back tomorrow,” suggesting that there is always time. Rome wasn't built in a day– there is always more time (...usually). Waheed may be just another person, trying to get through life. The night possibly suggests sadness and depression, as is often associated with darkness, and her heart cannot handle it, hence her softly telling her heart “we'd come back.” The struggles of living can be too difficult to bear sometimes (Waheed often writes on mental illness), so it can be easier to just take it day by day and occasionally give up and take a break—for just the time being. Be gentle with yourself. The symbolism of the quilt is interesting: patches on quilts are scavenged, taken from old quilts or ripped parts of torn t-shirts. This is similar to living; we all have our dusty corners, old memories. We are just fragments of memories of living to create thoughts pieced together into a being Another thing that I found interesting was the use of “we.” Waheed tells her heart “we'd come back,” separating her heart, the core of life and love, from her body. This could possibly be to distinguish the difference between the heart and the brain. As I explained earlier, if Waheed is representative of a person struggling with depression, a mental illness that is entirely due to chemical imbalances in the brain, the use of “we” in relation to her heart and body differentiates between the concrete and lawful science of living (the brain) and the abstract feelings as a result of living (the heart). The body is very much alive but the heart is struggling in feeling alive. Waheed states that “the night was busy making the moon,” so she'd come back tomorrow. Some implications here include that the night is taking up too much attention, space, energy, time, from her. However, it must be kept in mind that there will never be ‘enough’ time for yourself if you are always waiting on someone else (in this case, the moon). Ironically, Waheed tells herself to “come back tomorrow”–however, the moon will also be back tomorrow, and every night after that. You will never have the opportunity if you wait. Make time for yourself. In conclusion, there are several different ways to interpret this poem. Whether she is the sun or human, warm or sad, neglectful of herself or mindful, patient or submissive, this poem is certainly purposely subjective, letting the reader feel related to in their struggle. (Thanks girl! I don't feel alone anymore). Not trying to put Nayirrah Waheed on a godlike or unfair pedestal here with unreachable expectations, but I certainly view her as the sun (which is a damn good compliment imo). Her poem here is symbolic of fortitude, gentleness, and care. Make time for yourself. And be soft.
1 Comment
|
AuthorJosie Kremer Archives
January 2017
Categories |