Poetry+Analysis

http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/dempster/poem3.htm

THE DEAD ARE WATCHING US Barry Dempster From: //Fire and Brimstone// . Montreal : Empyreal Press, 1997 
 * 1)  The dead are watching us... grandfathers,
 * 2)  great-aunts with faces yellow as bungalow bricks,
 * 3) distant pioneers administering desire in long
 * 4) lingering looks, their stone-cold irises enthralled.
 * 5) They are in love with the sleek black carpets
 * 6) of our driveways, the bundles of rhubarb
 * 7) soaking in stainless steel sinks, the tiny rubber skiffs
 * 8) floating pink ovals of soap across our steamy tubs.
 * 9) They are longing for luxury, for contentment,
 * 10) these hammocks stretched between elms
 * 11) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and telephone poles, those toffee-coloured Buicks
 * 12) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">purling at the curbs like Burmese cats,
 * 13) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">those silver-threaded clotheslines spinning
 * 14) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with lusty sheets. They are green as cut stems, 2
 * 15) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as bleeding grass, with envy.
 * 16) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What would they give to sink their bones
 * 17) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in our broadloom, to squeeze their hands
 * 18) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">down our elastic waistbands, to collapse on
 * 19) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">our porcelain thrones? Eternity
 * 20) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for the blue pulse of a TV set, the chill
 * 21) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of a dinner bell, the creak of a back fence
 * 22) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as it divides us into conversations and families.
 * 23) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They would lie or steal for the opportunity
 * 24) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of sleeping next to us, cotton bums as soft
 * 25) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as lettuce leaves, nipples the size of rosebuds.
 * 26) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They would kill us for our silverware, our cameras,
 * 27) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">our Christmas tree angels, those assets
 * 28) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">proving we're alive, the crystal butter dish,
 * 29) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the walnut pipe, the painting of a long-haired Christ
 * 30) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">whose eyes are blessing everything he sees.
 * 31) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dead detest us for all of it, our accordions,
 * 32) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">our clothespins, our bowls of red-hot porridge.
 * 33) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They can't wait for us to retire from
 * 34) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this luck, a gruesome heart attack or snivelling
 * 35) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cancer cell. Once we've recovered from the thrill
 * 36) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of our souls floating over the Scarborough Bluffs,
 * 37) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">we will know exactly what it's like to watch
 * 38) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">how much we've left behind.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/dempster/poem3.htm

Thematic Statement: <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> In my opinion, the theme behind "The dead are watching us" is that life shouldn't be something that you should regret once you're dead. You should be able to die, and look back on your life as an accomplishment, not a disappointment because there are people who have passed away that would give anything for a second chance at life. The poem illustrates that the dead would go through extreme measures to get what we so easily pass over as a convenience. An example from the text that illustrates this theme is "The dead detest us for all of it, our accordions, our clothespins...". <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This clearly states that the people who have passed are jealous of the living and all that they have.

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> Paraphrasing: <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Text: They can't wait for us to retire from this luck  <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> Meaning: The dead are jealous because the living are still alive, and are lucky to be alive. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Text: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in our broadloom, to squeeze their hands down our elastic waistbands   <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaning:reap the other person's riches/wealth Text: <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaning:  <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Text:  <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaning:

Poetic Terms: Line One; Personification; The dead are watching us Line Two; Simile; with faces yellow as bungalow bricks, Line Four; Personification; their stone-cold irises enthralled. Line Seven; Alliteration; soaking in stainless steel sinks Line Nine; Alliteration; They are longing for luxury Line Twelve; Simile; purling at the curbs like Burmese cats, Line Fifteen; Personification; as bleeding grass, with envy. Line Twenty Four / Twenty Five; cotton bums as soft as lettuce leaves <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">