14.02.05 City Eclogue - Beauty's Standing pg 37 : A Response

   Ed Roberson's collection of writings overall is something that I consider to be very interesting. He uses very visual descriptions to place the reader into the setting that he is trying to convey. These visual descriptions are what give the writing the ability to immerse its readers.

Sequoia Tree<3

    I was torn between two poems that I wanted to reflect on. The first was a poem was titled Sequoia sempervirens. The first reason I had chosen this poem was because simply the word Sequoia has a special place in my heart and has always provoked fonder memories in my mind.
The reason being for this is because a couple of years ago I was crowned as the 'queen' of my hometown. (Where I am from 18 year old girls are encouraged to compete as representatives of their hometowns) If you are selected as your town's representative then you are awarded a scholarship for college. Being your town's representative also allows you to travel and meet many new people.

Mr. and Miss Coloma 2012 (THAT'S ME!! :)))

 I was lucky enough to meet a lovely woman. I won't reveal her full name just for the sake of privacy. But her  middle name was Sequoia. (I know you were probably wondering where I was going with all of this huh!?) I believe her mother found the tree to be beautiful and thought it fit to incorporate into her daughter's name. She was one of the most memorable and genuine people I have come to know; and anytime I think of, or hear the word 'Sequoia' I think of her and the memories that I have made because of her. So due to my previous experiences, the piece that's entitled Sequoia is going to grab hold of my attention. The piece that I had ended up going with was entitled Beauty's Standing. (pg37)
   This piece spoke to me in different ways. The title itself to me is an important component in this particular piece. (Not just because it's the title.) But because the word 'beauty' is given the potential for possession. If that makes sense? Normally one would not put an apostrophe -s after the word beauty. That is unless you happen to be the second grade version of myself. (Back then I had no idea what the apostrophe was for and simply used it anytime there was use of a plural noun) But for the title of this poem Beauty's Standing, this is implying that beauty itself has its own standing on something. OR it could mean that beauty IS standing ON something? I'm not quite sure, but I believe that my first assumption makes more sense. Within the first two stanzas I notice Roberson somewhat creating a connection. Now what do I mean by that?
Well...
"Only eye lives in this
no place anything else can
come to rest on

Chairs sit in visual positions
proposing your sight
on the room as beautiful"

   I'm not sure if my train of thought is too strange to understand, but the way the first stanza ends with 'come to rest on' and the second stanza begins with 'chairs' I wonder if that was done purposefully. When I think of taking a rest, I envision a chair or a bed of sorts. Just thinking about it could allow my shoulders to loosen, and perhaps not be so tense. I think that this creates a vision of a full room. There is nowhere to sit, or even allow your eyes to rest. Perhaps there is too much beauty filling the room. Much like many of our grandparents with their antique furniture and floral wallpaper...it's too much to look at. Your eyes find it difficult to rest in one spot for a long period of time because there is so much to take in.
Even when Roberson says "...in visual positions proposing your sight on the room as beautiful."This is also a play on composition and/or arrangement. We arrange our furniture in the most 'appealing' way possible so that we can invite guests into our homes. We create works of art in order to capture the viewer's/buyer's attention. AND we photo shop magazine ads in order to gain profit from our products.
   Moving onto another eye catching segment of this piece. I noticed that a particular stanza was spaced in a very odd fashion.

"A practical place to sit
cities      cities the always where
      cities have been"

I took note that there were three mentions of the word 'cities.' Every mentioning of the word, when placed together, forms into an 'upside down' triangular shape. I'm not quite sure why this is, but it caught my attention and seemed to be interesting to me. It is uncertain that this was also done purposefully, but it seems that most of the peculiar spacing throughout this poem appears as intentional.

This piece to me is taking a stand on what is considered beautiful, and what the onlookers deem to be so. Perhaps a tip of the hat to the old saying of 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder?'
All in all, this piece stood out to me and I found it enjoyable to read.