Comments on: poem: The Quiet World http://tatterdemallion.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/poem-the-quiet-world/ Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:39:08 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: bee http://tatterdemallion.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/poem-the-quiet-world/#comment-1347 bee Mon, 17 Sep 2007 21:08:59 +0000 http://tatterdemallion.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/poem-the-quiet-world/#comment-1347 thanks for this - really lovely. thanks for this – really lovely.

]]> By: dorkas http://tatterdemallion.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/poem-the-quiet-world/#comment-1345 dorkas Fri, 14 Sep 2007 08:08:58 +0000 http://tatterdemallion.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/poem-the-quiet-world/#comment-1345 personally, i love that this starts with a reference to enforced eye contact, and then ends with a situation in which eye contact is impossible. there's something rather wonderful about that. personally, i love that this starts with a reference to enforced eye contact, and then ends with a situation in which eye contact is impossible. there’s something rather wonderful about that.

]]> By: mrschili http://tatterdemallion.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/poem-the-quiet-world/#comment-1342 mrschili Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:47:54 +0000 http://tatterdemallion.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/poem-the-quiet-world/#comment-1342 When she doesn’t respond, I know she’s used up all her words so I slowly whisper I love you, thirty-two and a third times. After that, we just sit on the line and listen to each other breathe. There are a few things I love about this stanza. First, I love that the unquestioning assumption is that the lover has used up all her words - not that she doesn't want to spend them on the caller. Next is the way the caller chooses to use up the rest of her/his allotment - whispering the three most important words in our language over and over again. Last, I wonder which word won out for the final "third"... When she doesn’t respond, I know
she’s used up all her words
so I slowly whisper I love you,
thirty-two and a third times.
After that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe.

There are a few things I love about this stanza. First, I love that the unquestioning assumption is that the lover has used up all her words – not that she doesn’t want to spend them on the caller. Next is the way the caller chooses to use up the rest of her/his allotment – whispering the three most important words in our language over and over again. Last, I wonder which word won out for the final “third”…

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