"Dust"

I’m not quite sure if this qualifies as concrete poetry because it’s not as radical visually as some of the ones in our poetry book, but it’s a cool poem nonetheless.

Dust

Off the lamp shade

so we can see

each other

without/groping,

without

the mystery,

the fantasy,

of who we wish we were;

dust

off the piano so

we can dance

weightless

like grace

notes

under Art Tatum’s

fingers, dust

off the television so we can settle on the sofa till our bodies feel like the letter B,

till our minds

misplace

regrets,

till our tongues become extinct.

Lift the dust

off your eyes,

girl;

lift the velvet haze

off your dreams wipe

the surface

clean; t e a r

the rag off your head, and

peer

into your reflection

before

there’s nothing left to see.

What’s interesting about analyzing this poem is that since the poem is so oddly placed on the page, the stuff that’s normal is what jumps out at me. I’ll begin with taking a look at the things that are normall spaced and printed first.

The defining element of this poem is space. There is so much empty space on the page with the massive indentations, one word lines, spaces between letters, and triple spaces between almost all of the words. This allows Jordan to place emphasis on certain words by positioning them wherever the hell he wants. An example of this is that “regrets” is placed on its own line and practically right next to the binding of the book. The feeling that this poem conveys is one of distance and longing, and the isolation of “regrets” reinforces that. What I can’t discern though is to whom this poem is talking. I thought Macnolia was talking to her husband the whole time until she said “Lift the dust/off your eyes,/ girl.” This made me think that she might be speaking to herself, hoping for motivation and/or comfort. She may be so detached from her husband, due to his infidelity, that she feels she must comfort and ease the pain for herself. This would explain the spaciousness of the poem, the one word lines, and the complete separation of “off the television…B” from the rest of the poem.

Another interesting thing is the extensive use of the imperative, such as “dust off…”three times, “lift the dust,” “lift the velvet,” “wipe the surface,” “tear the rag,” “and “peer into.” This conveys a sense of bitterness mixed in with the distanced feeling I discussed before. It’s almost like Macnolia is pushing herself so hard to change that she is demanding things of herself.

There’s also a large change in the pattern of the sentences after the boxed portion. Before it, Macnolia only uses the “Dust off…” command and always gives a reason for this, “Dust off the lamp shad so we can see each other,” “dust off the piano so we can dance,” “dust off the television so we can settle on the sofa.” They all give justifications for her demands to dust these objects off. After the box, however, the commands change and she ceases to give reasons for these demands. “Lift the dust off your eyes,” “lift the velvet haze off your dreams,” “wipe the surface clean,” “tear the rag off your head,” and “peer into your reflection.” This change over such a dramatically short amount of time possibly shows how Macnolia’s determination may be increasing. Initially, she has to give herself weak reasons to dust these things off, reasons to change herself. Soon after though she has the willpower to demand these things of herself with no strings attached.