Explanation About The Inception of This Poem:
I am not usually a fan of explaining the thoughts or feelings for the inception of a poem. I think there is beauty and fulfillment for the mind to explore the values and weights of each word it reads as capable as it is imagining it. There is freedom in knowing, you are righteous in the definition that you agreed with your inner self. Freedom from your thoughts not being restricted by the writer, because otherwise you might get a sense of you are just making things up, how could you be right in interpreting something that the writer didn’t mean.
So this is how these few words came to be scratched on a paper of which contained list of names on the other side. I wrote it in about 10 minutes and there is a little left over maybe I will make that parse, that I might make part II to this. Imagine being in the U.S.A and taking a migrant to his/her first job interview. Now assume, you wish that individual a different job than that, but opportunities are limited. You sit there and watch and wonder, what must be the thoughts and feelings of the migrant individual trying to get this job.
I agree with myself that this poem as having two or more contrasting interpretations to it. Because you do not really know the individual’s feelings; whether he/she is eager to obtain this job and would be happy, or wishes he/she had never left his/her homeland or anything in between. You can ask but really, words are not going to do the inner feelings justice anyway, not to mention there might be a language barrier to communicate to begin with.
ONE side of the INTERPRETATION is: the feeling of traveling in a high spirit having the moon is a guide, but obviously not preferred; because the moon comes out at night and if one has the choice, people would rather travel with the sun during the day. You travel with the moon “Up to the white sandy shore” this is meant to indicate you can no longer travel afar from the shore perhaps an indication of class and wealth, because those who have means to travel on the sea they sure can. “Made love to the whispering breeze | With all my two billion pores…” you arrive at your final destination to where you no longer have a path or hope to travel hence you are alert yet overwhelmed with the amount of stimulation/information/cultural gap etc. Just about everything is new to you. Actually I initially had the line saying, “With all my two billion naked pores…” but it felt painful to be so unprotected and I dropped the naked word out. For the record, I remember reading somewhere apparently science would like us to know the average human body has just a little above two billion pores, just fyi ☺ but I stand to be corrected.
And the last stanza…
“I kneeled before the dancing sea
For its solvent chloride to marry me.”
I thought the individual would be so broken down inside, that, it has come to this, the life of America that he/she dreamt of from a distant but familiar homeland isn’t really what he/she is finding and has no choice but to be broken down with an inescapable power of the sea. Why is this inescapable? Because, if you are in the sea, the sea is the homogenous, you are the outlier (you are the different one in their) and you can hardly fight your way out of a violent/dancing sea. Therefore, your best bet is to accept your defeat, kneel down to the power that be and allow yourself to immerse in the environment, despite the taste of the sea salt.
THE SECOND side of the INTERPRETATION is: Life is wonderful and you are living above the ground and below the Heavens, hence why you would travel along side of the moon. Until, you got something else that captivates you even better and let the moon do its travel on her own. White sandy shore, I would think would give people the sense of purity and joy because it is followed with a complete euphoria that awakens your entire being. You are making love arguably the highest form of ecstasy. There in the dancing sea, you would not want to let this pass but be entwined with it for the rest of your days. The salt gives the sea, a taste it is no longer salt and water, these elements has dissolved into each other and the blessed individual would want to be in that state therefore wishing and begging to be part of that happiness.
The image along with the poem hardly depicts hardship and one might ask why? Well, my thought was, the image is visible to the public, anyone passing by can see it, and so if you think about taking a sample of the over 300 million people living in the U.S.A and ask them how they think migrants life is like here in the states compared to wherever they came from? I bet most people would think migrants life must be quite wonderful to be in the US far away from what ever place they came from and what ever reason it was they came here to avoid. In that sense life would seem nothing less than jubilation. I would believe that would reflect the view of the majority if you were to take a survey; yes, perhaps quite accurate or irony to an immigrant actually living it.
Last but not least, I have a favor to ask, 1. Would your preference been with the inclusion of the explanation or with out it & 2. Would you mind sharing why?
Waiting in Vain by Bob Marley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ukRwPRxYi0 —
