I have selected the poem titled “The Waterbowl” by Michael S. Harper from his collection Dear John, Dear Coltrane. Part of the reason why I have selected this poem is for its simplicity. Simplicity is a quality that I truly value in poem. I feel that poetry is left much more to the unsaid and the senses which the words of the poem trigger. In “The Waterbowl,” the simplicity of the poem can be seen through the elementary vocabulary used in each short line. The line breaks also add on to the whole simplicity effect by creating short lines with one main idea for every two lines, “…her eyes had turned the color of okra…there is no love in those eyes…” This break down allows the reader to easily process the information. In addition, more weight is given to each image and detail because of the emphasis that the line break creates and gives. One aspect that I really like about this poem is the use of concrete details to create an image. Since I find it hard to do this in my own poetry, I felt that “The Waterbowl” was a good poem to look at since it uses this literary tool to make the poem work. Harper offers concrete details such as “her eyes turned the color of okra,” “I took her pock-boned jaws,” “a mussel clamped into darkness,” and “two matchsticks in a bowl of water.” All these details are concrete and are able to create an image for the reader. The paradoxical or ironic thing is that Harper uses these concrete images to lead the reader to an abstract image of “there is no love in those eyes, only loss, pregnant with intelligent shame.” Lastly, another aspect of “The Waterbowl” is the use of metaphors. The most interesting part of the use of metaphors is to be able to draw similarities between two things that do not seem to have anything in common. For example, Harper compares eyes to wat...
