Comments on: Illustrated Guide to Familiar American Trees http://www.tinhouse.com/blog/9731/from-the-vault-charlie-smith.html Home of the magazine, the books, and the conference Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:07:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Brian http://www.tinhouse.com/blog/9731/from-the-vault-charlie-smith.html#comment-3419 Brian Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:19:12 +0000 http://www.tinhouse.com/blog/?p=9731#comment-3419 I wonder what others took away from this poem. I feel perhaps Mr. Smith is suggesting a satirical commentary here. From the first stanza the narrator exudes such an obvious ignorance and solipsism regarding the very worth of nature. Perhaps Mr. Smith is characterizing the isolation of the city dweller, their short-sightedness, and self-centered ways ("I see myself moving around NY / snapping my fingers..."). Then the narrator feigns an intimate attachment (or camaraderie) to the trees on the block where he's spent time craning up at a particular building. He goes so far as to profess a love for them, but it is clear it is an affection not for their inherent worth, but because they remind him of this particular street and his time with his ex-wife. Could he even be jealous of the "two honey locusts and an oak", stationed outside his ex-wife's former abode? I wonder what others took away from this poem.
I feel perhaps Mr. Smith is suggesting a satirical commentary here. From the first stanza the narrator exudes such an obvious ignorance and solipsism regarding the very worth of nature. Perhaps Mr. Smith is characterizing the isolation of the city dweller, their short-sightedness, and self-centered ways (“I see myself moving around NY / snapping my fingers…”). Then the narrator feigns an intimate attachment (or camaraderie) to the trees on the block where he’s spent time craning up at a particular building. He goes so far as to profess a love for them, but it is clear it is an affection not for their inherent worth, but because they remind him of this particular street and his time with his ex-wife. Could he even be jealous of the “two honey locusts and an oak”, stationed outside his ex-wife’s former abode?

]]>