A Great Poem 1

This poem is one of my very favourites. I actually was reminded of it again recently when starting a new book. I encourage you to read this poem and any poem you come across, out loud. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

This is 

Refrigerator, 1957 - by Thomas Lux

"More like a vault — you pull the handle out
and on the shelves: not a lot,
And what there is (a boiled potato
in a bag, a chicken carcass
under foil) looking dispirited,
drained, mugged. This is not
a place to go in hope or hunger.
But, just to the right of the middle
of the middle door shelf, on fire, a lit-from-within red,
heart red, sexual red, wet neon red,
shining red in their liquid, exotic,
aloof, slumming
in such company: a jar
of maraschino cherries. Three-quarters
full, fiery globes, like strippers
at a church social. Maraschino cherries, maraschino,
the only foreign word I knew. Not once
did I see these cherries employed: not
in a drink, nor on top
of a glob of ice cream,
or just pop one in your mouth. Not once.
The same jar there through an entire
childhood of dull dinners — bald meat,
pocked peas and, see above,
boiled potatoes. Maybe
they came over from the old country,
family heirlooms, or were status symbols
bought with a piece of the first paycheck
from a sweatshop,
which beat the pig farm in Bohemia,
handed down from my grandparents
to my parents
to be someday mine,
then my child’s?
They were beautiful
and, if I never ate one,
it was because I knew it might be missed
or because I knew it would not be replaced
and because you do not eat
that which rips your heart with joy.”

That's it! And isn't it so lovely?!

If, like myself, you've read this poem out loud, you might have noticed this piece has rhythm. There is a real song likeness. Like "this is not a place to go in hope or hunger" it just rolls off your tongue. In my opinion, this is one of the things that define great poetry! The cadence of a poem. 

I love the descriptive language that really creates this almost mythical image of these cherries. They truly feel like something not quite real or, at least, out of place. I'm thinking of "like strippers at a church social" This line is one of my favourites! It's so effective in communicating the discrepancy between the item and the setting. And now, contrasting this line with the language used to describe whatever is not cherry. There is a pronounced difference. "Not once did I see these cherries employed", now we're back in the real world and here food is a tactical act---not something to enjoy---it is hard-earned. Whenever did you hear the word "employed" be used for food? 

It's this sort of creativity that makes poems so enjoyable! There is so much ingenuity that goes into every single sentence. Every word has a purpose and taking a moment to read over the poem again will unveil an entirely new dimension to this writing :D