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An Old Poem Embedded in a Final Thought on the Airplane

An Old Poem Embedded in a Final Thought on the Airplane A n O l d P o e m E m b e d d e d in a F i n a l T h o u g h t o n t h e A i r p l a n e N o a h E l i G o r d o n A b o u t fiv e years ago, I w ro te a short poem called "Y esterday I Named a Dead Bird Rebecca." The title cam e to me w h ile in Florida v is itin g fam ily. Going fo r a sho rt walk, I passed th e car­ cass o f a c ro w s w a rm ing w ith sm all flies.There was so m e th in g so re p ug nan t about th is par­ tic u la r dead anim al that, although o d d ly aware o f its lack o f any sort o f odor, I was, nonetheless, overcom e by a strong, de b ilita tin g nausea, one w h ich I suspect arose sim p ly fro m the sm ell I im agined the bird to have.The poem reads: w ere a defused heart w in te rin g the clock tim e kept by cou ntin g birds I'd call flig h t a half-belief in air a ve n om o us lack w hen the ticking is less so W hat could be m ore o b vio us than th a t th is poem transposes its p ro p o sitio n a l w a y o f u n de r­ stan din g g ra v ity in to the structure o f its ow n id en tity? S om e thin g th a t lies beyond the p u rv ie w o f its lone sentence speaks to m e n o w as th e kind o f nostalgia one feels upon w atching an airplane pass overhead. It means m aking distance disappear. English Language Notes 46.1 Spring / Summer 2008 Downloaded from https://read.dukeupress.edu/english-language-notes/article-pdf/46/1/153/545868/153gordon.pdf by DEEPDYVE INC user on 16 June 2020 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png English Language Notes Duke University Press

An Old Poem Embedded in a Final Thought on the Airplane

Gordon, Noah Eli; Zemka, Sue
English Language Notes , Volume 46 (1) – Mar 1, 2008
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Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Regents of the University of Colorado
ISSN
0013-8282
eISSN
2573-3575
DOI
10.1215/00138282-46.1.153
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

A n O l d P o e m E m b e d d e d in a F i n a l T h o u g h t o n t h e A i r p l a n e N o a h E l i G o r d o n A b o u t fiv e years ago, I w ro te a short poem called "Y esterday I Named a Dead Bird Rebecca." The title cam e to me w h ile in Florida v is itin g fam ily. Going fo r a sho rt walk, I passed th e car­ cass o f a c ro w s w a rm ing w ith sm all flies.There was so m e th in g so re p ug nan t about th is par­ tic u la r dead anim al that, although o d d ly aware o f its lack o f any sort o f odor, I was, nonetheless, overcom e by a strong, de b ilita tin g nausea, one w h ich I suspect arose sim p ly fro m the sm ell I im agined the bird to have.The poem reads: w ere a defused heart w in te rin g the clock tim e kept by cou ntin g birds I'd call flig h t a half-belief in air a ve n om o us lack w hen the ticking is less so W hat could be m ore o b vio us than th a t th is poem transposes its p ro p o sitio n a l w a y o f u n de r­ stan din g g ra v ity in to the structure o f its ow n id en tity? S om e thin g th a t lies beyond the p u rv ie w o f its lone sentence speaks to m e n o w as th e kind o f nostalgia one feels upon w atching an airplane pass overhead. It means m aking distance disappear. English Language Notes 46.1 Spring / Summer 2008 Downloaded from https://read.dukeupress.edu/english-language-notes/article-pdf/46/1/153/545868/153gordon.pdf by DEEPDYVE INC user on 16 June 2020

Journal

English Language Notes – Duke University Press

Published: Mar 1, 2008

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