Review of Poem ‘Abandoned farmhouse’ By Ted Kosser

 

Review of

Poem ‘Abandonedfarmhouse’

By Ted Kosser

I request readers to read the poem first from the above link and then only my review.

A fiction writer or poet, a creator is innately an observer. Her identity is an observer. In family, work place, in travel or anywhere in the outside world she is not part of the crowd, but only an observer. She is a non-judgemental observer. Creator is probably too abstract an identity and her focus on the passion creativity is never comparable with the time taken for her mundane or routine or need based activities. Both work and breaks are two sides of a passion. But the passion is as spontaneous as a choice of food or recreation or inclination for mundane activities. Passion is the other side of quest. Quest and passion go together and are inevitable sides of the typical mundane and creative activities of a creator. The observer, nonetheless is always active, whether she is on mundane or creative activity. The poet emerges as an outstanding observer in this poem.

This poem spells what we infer from our observations of an abandoned farmhouse. The expressions are very simple and direct and do not require any elaboration. The mention of rags and sandbox made out of tractor tires reveal the poverty of the family, a couple and a kid. The mother and the child appear to have exited in a haste. May be there is a hint about domestic violence. The poem in equal vein, draws a macro picture of a couple who found a hideout in a farmhouse without taking up farming. Probably the poem points to a backdrop of high Gini index. We infer an urban male lost his job and moved to a village without any clue of how to make both ends meet there either. His frustration with the dead end and inability to cope up with the ever changing demands of urban lifestyle and jobs impacted his personal life. What happened to him? What happened to the family? The poem ends with ‘something went wrong they say’ for the creative interpretation and ponder of the reader about what make inclusiveness and empathy evaporate out of institutions and in turn individuals.

Wiki updates ‘Theodore J. Kooser is an American poet. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2005. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006.

The disturbing poem provokes a thought process within the reader subtly. That is its success.


 

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