January 2017: "Wild Oats"

​In this installment, I wanted to talk about a few stanzas from the poem "Wild Oats," by WS Merwin. When you click on the link, you'll go to the Merwin Conservancy page where the poem is archived.
 
http://www.merwinconservancy.org/2016/03/poem-of-the-week-wild-oats/
 
Do enjoy reading the entire poem. Then I'd like to direct your attention to the second-to-last stanza:
 
I have to keep telling myself
why I am going away again
I do not seem to listen
 
In this stanza I enjoy the metaphor created by the speaker describing himself as another person. It's not uncommon to hear someone speak of "telling themselves" this or that; here when Merwin adds –
 
I do not seem to listen
 
– he extends the metaphor of himself as a separate person just a little bit further, as one who is also not listening, or being at odds with himself, to convey the sense of his internal resistance to "going away." I find it effective and fresh, with a bit of humor.
 
What are your thoughts?
 
And a related writing prompt for the month:
 
Thinking about Merwin's poem, do you ever talk to yourself or think of yourself as being in some way "of two minds"? How would you convey that in imagery or metaphor? You could also think back to the previous Metaphor and More (December 2016) to write about the mind-body connection (or separation), and how that might make a person feel like two instead of one, at times.
 
Until soon, all best wishes for your reading and writing!
 
– Jennifer

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