Swirls of sky piece-out the
indirect prisms. Curls of water
charge the sand. We are lower
than the sea. Stray cormorants
cliff-climb, then wing-down
on the duney slopes. We are
lower than the sea. The woman
with red hair rides on an
elevator of horizons. She vanishes
in boiling fog. Whether we can see
it or not, the sun sets every day in
San Diego.
Escondido, California {1980}
From: Crosswalk Casserole
Summary
“A POEM THAT REFUSES TO BE CALLED DUSK” by Michael C. Ford is a poem centered on place and geography, identity, nature. Its imagery is anchored in San Diego, California. The poem develops its subject through recurring images and shifts in emotional pressure rather than reducing the experience to a single statement.
Analysis
Voice
The speaker works through observation and associative imagery, allowing scene and image to carry the argument.
Style and form
The poem is line-driven, compressed. Its brevity concentrates attention on juxtaposition, line breaks, and the pressure created by what the poem leaves unstated.
Themes and imagery
Its strongest thematic currents include place and geography, identity, nature. Concrete images give those abstractions physical weight, while changes in diction and pace keep the poem from settling into a single emotional register.
Reading the poem
A productive way to read “A POEM THAT REFUSES TO BE CALLED DUSK” is to watch how its images change function as the poem progresses. Details that initially establish scene or memory become emotional evidence. The result is a poem whose argument is carried through association, rhythm, and image as much as through explicit statement.
Explore this poem
Source & rights
Source: Crosswalk Casserole (Lawn Gnome Publishing, First Edition, 2013)
Rights: © 2013 Lawn Gnome Publishing. All rights reserved.