Respond to 300 words

This coming week we’re turning our eyes toward poetry, where language operates independently of narrative to do its own thing. As you might expect or already know, that means that the larger meaning ends up being a bit more abstract and a bit more difficult to glean.

For this prompt, then, take a look at either the Ross Gay poems (“Feet” and “Ode to Buttoning and Unbuttoning My Shirt,” both available on Course Reserves) or Jana Prikryl’s poem “A Place as Good as Any” and pick a single line that baffles or mystifies you. Post it up here and then try to riff on the specific word choices to try and figure out what the line says and, then, relate those choices to a section or line of the poem you have a good grasp on. Hopefully this leads to some insights about the larger aspects of the poem and what it might be trying to say as a whole.