Thursday, October 6, 2011

"Bio Note" By Allison Joseph

 By Clarissa Richee 

“Bio Note” by Alliosn Jospeh from her volume my father's kites works on a meta-fictional level to explore our varied perceptions of poetry and what it means to make poetry. Joseph begins her poem with a command, “Tell me about the poet,” as if such a task were simple or could be sown up in a few lines.  The goal appears to be to know the sum of the poet herself by reviewing the details of her life.

Joseph proceeds to demonstrate how impossible a task this is, listing a variety of subjects from sexuality to education to age. In fast-moving and succinct cadence, she asks the audience to evaluate how they feel about poets and their poetry, and if and how they are moved by them.

Using questions, Joseph offers a myriad of answers for each subject, allowing the reader to consider the full scope of possibility: “Does she live / urban and alone with two cats / or two dogs or two rabbits / or one rabbit with two ferrets, / or two ferrets and not cats?”

The shortness of the lines with heavy syllables, and Joseph’s constant use of enjambment, gives the poem a rapid pace, almost as if the reader were being personally questioned by an authority on the matter. This sense of urgency spurs the poem forward, an impassioned ramble, searching for meaning in the details themselves.

Each detail is indicative of a different and specific person, creating the feeling that the poet herself is multifaceted. She is a sum of an infinite amount of experiences and comprised of countless elements, none of which are so easily condensed or explained. 

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