The title of the poem that I found on the six train line is “Notes on Longing” by Tina Chang. My initial reaction to this specific poem was that is was a bit hard for me to understand what it was talking about. The visual arts that accompany this poem is a towel, a sock and what appears to be a bed sheet drying outside by the sun. You could see the sun that is being represented by the sun and it’s being reflected off a blue and white background. There is a few others colors such as green and white on the sock, blue, white and gray on the bed sheet and a white towel with three white lines. I believe that this poem was chosen for the subway riders because people can relate to it, riders have families to go home to. The speaker to this poem is unknown and the subject is coming home. In my understanding the themes that this poem explores is home and family. This poem is accessible for general readers because they are riders that are on their home and its not a hard poem after you’ve read it more than once. A question that I do have about this poem is what does the first two lines in the beginning mean, what do they have to do with the rest of the poem?
I like how descriptive you are in your analysis. You obviously put a lot of thought into your post. I feel that you could have stated that a male observer was the speaker of this poem, but that’s just a nitpick. You found a long poem with an on-the-nose meaning and managed to explain it pretty well. Now your post is great, but maybe you should have put more questions for the author at the end.
I agree that this poem is a little hard to understand,I think that the image of the sock, towel, and sheet represent the home life and the sun shining on these objects represent power of a strong family and happiness. I also agree with the fact that this poem is accessible for riders because they are going to there homes to see their families. I think that the person doesn’t have a family i believe that they are trying to envision what family life would be.The title of the poem justifies my claim ā Notes On Longingā the person is wishing for that family life because they don’t have it.I dont think the speaker is coming home but wishes they had a home to come to. I do agree that the theme is home and family because that is what is spoken about overall, having a home and being part of a family.I am also confused on the first two lines but maybe it is the way the speaker is living with nowhere to go, that’s the only food they have to eat.
I agree with you that the subject of the poem is coming home. I think that when the speaker is coming home she could smell the āDuck bones, a wounded egg on riceā. She pass by the āshop that makes keys.ā (Line 2-4) Those are some examples of why I agree that the subject of the poem is coming home. I also agree that the visual arts on the poem is a towel, a sock and a bed sheet drying off in the sun. I think the background is a city because you could see tall building in the distance and often rural areas donāt have tall building. Ā I also think that the speaker is probably walking home from work, and as she walk home, she has thoughts of the neighborhood around her. I disagree that the poem was hard to understand because to me the speaker is trying to convey how she feels when she is going home, the feelings and thoughts that she or he get.