 Disclaimer/Rationale: 1) the shorter lines characteristic of Kunitz's later works, 2) The "natural" rhythms that Kunitz experimented with, 3) the ideas of Life and Death and the haunting presence of childhood memories, which are present in much of his poetry (though, admittedly, I use these ideas to a slightly different purpose) and 4) the idea of multiple selves - roughly inspired by the images of masks that he often mentions in his work (and, in this particular poem, the "two-faced god" - the god of Time).
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“The Unquiet Ones” – Stanley Kunitz
Years ago I lost both my parents’ addresses. Father and mother lie in their neglected cribs, obscure as moles, unvisited. When I put out the light I hear them stir, dissatisfied, in their separate places, in death as in life remote from each other, having no conversation except in the common ground of their son’s mind. They slip through narrow crevices and, suddenly blown tall, glide into my cave of phantoms, unwelcome guests, but not unloved, dark emissaries of the two-faced god.
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The Tapestry (an Imitation Poem) –
Memory hangs heavy in silent, hidden recesses: Death and misfortune bound to Life and childhood innocence, embroidered with the names of the unforgotten dead. I do not wish to see it. If I could lock the door, I’d bury it in rooms within rooms; let it gather dust and fade, or else unravel, string by string, until it has no more design than the chaos from which it came. But I cannot escape it. It shudders and raps against my present mind, demanding recognition; warring for the upper hand, until one Self lays down arms. |
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