The first time I read this poem, I was extremely confused. The first three sentences scared me. "October on the planet at the century's end. Rain lashing the windshield. Through blurred glass Gusts of a Pacific storm rocking a huge, shank-needled Himalayan cedar." Ok, so I'm reading these few sentences and I'm asking myself questions like, "Shank-needled? Himalayan? Where does the cedar tree come in?" This is the way I have always read poetry. I would get confused and hung up on a word or two and just "write the poem off" and claim that the author was on drugs or something.
The last poem that we read in class had a lot of helpful information about how to understand a poem and look deep into it's meaning. Lectio divina is very helpful as well as all the other wonderful helpful tips we have heard. Now I have to admit that I did not do lectio divina with this poem. However, taking the poem line by line and circling the words that stick out and concentrating on what the author is trying to convey is very helpful. Oh yeah, and how about reading the poem again? That was probably one of the most helpful tips. After reading the poem several times, though I may not understand every line of the poem, I am closer to learning the meaning of the poem.
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Good comments, thank you. Good going.
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