“This Connection of Everyone with Lungs” by Juliana Spahr is a book of two poems. It is a summation of what happened after September 11th, 2001 up until the United States invaded Iraq. Spahr’s poetry is basically a combination of her thoughts and reactions to what the news says everyday. This compilation shows the change in news broadcasting over a period of about a year and 3 months.
Her first poem is very repetitive continually repeating “Everyone with lungs breathes the space in and out as everyone with lungs breathes the space between the hands in and out as everyone with lungs breathes the space between the hands and the space around the hands in and out.” (Spahr, 4-5) She focuses on each individual’s connection to the world and our connection to those other individuals around us. I personally liked her use of repetition because she stated something then continually reinforced it through the repetition while still building on the original thought.
Her second poem focuses more on the day-to-day news and the ordinary way it is displayed. In her interview she mentions how she knew that the war was imminent yet she just didn’t know when it would occur. Because of this she noted everything that happened on the news whether it seemed pointless or important.
I think that through the repetitive nature of Spahr’s poems she establishes a sense of the basic so the reader can look past it, at the true nature of how people connect through the everyday of breathing and through our actions and what goes on. This connection means so much to who we are and we should base so much on it yet we get caught up and distracted in the stupidity and pointlessness of our sphere which we call our life.
I really enjoyed reading this response. It is a great example of what a 'review' of a book would read like.
ReplyDeleteI agree with enjoying the repition of words within poems. I also believe that when hearing or reading something over and over with a little bit added every time really helps a reader see exactly what is going on within the poem. i personally would choose hearing repetitive verses out loud rather then read, because not only can you hear the words spoken but you also can hear how the author says the words. This is sometimes very useful.
How she writes her book is different then what we have been reading. Your right when saying she writes day to day, informative writing. Its easier to understand her work when knowing she write it that way, knowing that she didnt even know exactly how it was going to end, besides she knew we were going to go to war.
The connection she makes with how everyone is around everyone and that we are all connected is very strong, and is so very true. A lot of like you said have a hard time realizing such a life.