Wednesday, April 7, 2010
"Bonnard's Nudes," by Raymond Carver
Fresca has reminded me that April is National Poetry Month once more!
Bonnard's Nudes
by Raymond Carver
His wife. Forty years he painted her.
Again and again. The nude in the last painting
the same young nude as the the first. His wife
As he remembered her young. As she was young.
His wife in her bath. At her dressing table
in front of the mirror. Undressed.
His wife with her hands under her breasts
looking out on the garden.
The sun bestowing warmth and color.
Every living thing in bloom there.
She young and tremulous and most desirable.
When she died, he painted a while longer.
A few landscapes. Then died.
And was put down next to her.
His young wife.
-----------------I'm sure this could be read as the folly of freezing an ideal in time, not allowing your mental picture to match reality. But I feel like if that were the message he could have gone on painting her without her actual presence, as her reality would have become superfluous to him. Instead I like to read it as a discussion of the kind veils our minds can place for us, the way love lets us see the other as glowing even when they are not (and perhaps never were, it probably doesn't matter). The way love transfigures. It's a dangerous power and one that can blind us, but it can also make beauty.
Also, I am quite a bit in love with simple language and grammar at the moment, and so Carver tends to grab me. I wish I could capture that plain luminosity in words half so well.
Labels: poetry
// posted by Jennifer @ 11:52 PM 
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"the kind veils our minds can place for us..."
Yeah. Isn't that something?
There's an insistence that we look to Reality as the only acceptable filter for life. But Illusion can lend such a lovely, loving tint.
Yeah. Isn't that something?
There's an insistence that we look to Reality as the only acceptable filter for life. But Illusion can lend such a lovely, loving tint.
Modern culture (especially Western culture) stresses honest, hard reality so much that it's difficult to consider the joys of illusion! Jim Kirk would give a heartfelt speech about needing to live in reality and not some cotton-floss dream...but of course then there's "The Cage," which seems to mitigate Kirk's desire to rip away those veils somewhat.
Yes, I can make anything about Star Trek!
Yes, I can make anything about Star Trek!
I too like Carver's stripped-down language.
Did you know most of that stripping was done by his editor?
As a sometimes-editor/sometimes-writer I'm fascinated by the working relationship between writers and editors--especially when the editors who are really co-creators or otherwise integral to the work, though publicly invisible.
Actually, I'm just fascinated by working relationships.
Yes, Kirk was always ripping veils off illusion, even when they weren't doing any harm (like in The Apple).
He's all for getting kicked out of Eden.
Not my favorite side of him.
Did you know most of that stripping was done by his editor?
As a sometimes-editor/sometimes-writer I'm fascinated by the working relationship between writers and editors--especially when the editors who are really co-creators or otherwise integral to the work, though publicly invisible.
Actually, I'm just fascinated by working relationships.
Yes, Kirk was always ripping veils off illusion, even when they weren't doing any harm (like in The Apple).
He's all for getting kicked out of Eden.
Not my favorite side of him.
I suspect everything is actually about Star Trek.
From Trek Core:
"Captain Pike has an illusion,
and you have reality.
May you find your way as pleasant."
Yes, Jim is stubborn about putting raw reality on the plate. But as they say: "THAT'S WHY HE'S THE GODDAMN CAPTAIN".
Strange how it was Spock who was most effected by illusion in "This Side of Paradise".
Maybe because Illusion is logical.
From Trek Core:
"Captain Pike has an illusion,
and you have reality.
May you find your way as pleasant."
Yes, Jim is stubborn about putting raw reality on the plate. But as they say: "THAT'S WHY HE'S THE GODDAMN CAPTAIN".
Strange how it was Spock who was most effected by illusion in "This Side of Paradise".
Maybe because Illusion is logical.
Fresca, I did not know that about Carver, how interesting! I know some fan writers who get indignant at the idea that a beta/editor could have any input at that level. "It wouldn't be MY story then!" Well, okay, but it's all yours and not so good sometimes.
Margaret, I do like how Kirk is all about the hard reality, and Spock is much more amendable to the comfort of illusion. It makes them both more complex and multi-layered. And really, everything comes down to Star Trek!
Margaret, I do like how Kirk is all about the hard reality, and Spock is much more amendable to the comfort of illusion. It makes them both more complex and multi-layered. And really, everything comes down to Star Trek!
Despite the fact that acting them out produces considerable long-term negative consequences, the addict simply cannot resist his/her impulses. Individuals who are highly disciplined, accomplished and able to direct the force of their will in other areas of life fall prey to sexual compulsion. More importantly, people who love and cherish their partners can still be enslaved by these irresistible urges.
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