Friday, April 29, 2011

"Golden Retrievals," Mark Doty

Fetch? Balls and sticks capture my attention
seconds at a time. Catch? I don’t think so.
Bunny, tumbling leaf, a squirrel who’s—oh
joy—actually scared. Sniff the wind, then

I’m off again: muck, pond, ditch, residue
of any thrillingly dead thing. And you?
Either you’re sunk in the past, half our walk,
thinking of what you never can bring back,

or else you’re off in some fog concerning
—tomorrow, is that what you call it? My work:
to unsnare time’s warp (and woof!), retrieving,
my haze-headed friend, you. This shining bark,

a Zen master’s bronzy gong, calls you here,
entirely, now: bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow.

6 comments:

  1. This reminds me that dogs and pets are sweet and innocent.

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  2. Honestly, this poem reminded me of my friend, Emilee. She is so easily distracted, just like the dog in the first few lines. It's funny though, because that's true! Dogs are like that. This poem is almost a list of things you are annoyed with in dogs- them pulling you as you walk with them, etc. But that's what you miss when they're gone.

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  3. I thought the poem was kind of funny because the dog kept getting distracted and would go do something else.

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  4. I thought that this was a funny poem because it is from the viewpoint of the dog, and it shows all of the things that the dog is attracted to, and also how the dog gets distracted easily.

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  5. I think this poem did well at portraying the thought process of a dog. He's distracted by something new in each line which makes it very comical.

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  6. I thought this poem did an awesome job when it comes to capturing the essence of a dog. The distractions that are incorporated to the poem are some what...genius. This neat trick is displayed In lines the lines that involve one word thoughts such as “ditch.” and “pond.” The movie “Up” pops into my mind now that I really think about it….

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