Analysis Of Dorianne Laux's 'Memoirs Of The Hawk'

The Sophistication Found in the Simplicity of Tate
James Tate in his collection, Memoirs of the Hawk, presents believable yet absurd characters in the most vulnerable of settings and uses them to push humanistic truths that come full circle at his poems closing lines which work as epiphanies. The connection is collected in the sense that the direction and format is concrete for every poem, narratively or structurally there isn’t anything sophisticated going on that was presented in Dorianne Laux’s Facts About the Moon or Jamaal May’s Hum. This poeticness found in Tate is his ability to mask social or personal issues through humor and abstraction subtlety and with a degree of simplicity capitalizes Tate’s style in this collection. He

starts with something familiar to the everyday person whether it be a concept, question, or image and from the familiar delves into the abstraction. As the poems progress they become weirder and weirder until it brings you back to the familiar with the wonderfully written last lines. Tate doesn’t depend on poetic devices but rather the narrative of every individual poem to deliver that substance to his work to make it a deciding point whether to consider it flash fiction or prose. The three poems ‘The Guilty One” (156), “The Diagnosis” (157), and “From Whence They Came” (158), are all poems that discuss relatable human concepts such as self-loathing, the isolation of death in both as the victim and the loved ones, and finally the detachment from anything estrange because you don’t understand it.
In “The Guilty One”, Tate introduces us to a character, Jessie, who acts as an exaggerated embodiment of self-loathing. Strangely instead of poetic devices, a fixed form, or lyricism, the bulk of the poem consists of dialogue that expands on Jessie’s character by simply highlighting the fact that he is guilt ridden for no apparent reason other than the unfortunate circumstances presented globally. The “I” narrator acts as the opposition force to Jessie’s negativity but by the poems end falls out of that grace. Tate keeps a structured form throughout averaging eight words a line and a similar line length throughout making a nice blocked structure. The short lines complement the abstraction nicely because any wacky ideas or images never run together or appear on the same line. They are isolated making it easier for the reader to analysis and interpret. Also something that is similar throughout is that Tate writes fairly short poems rarely exceeding twenty five lines. In these short poems Tate’s weirdness is used best because it is brief and remains fresh until the very end. If they poems were perhaps pages long, his abstract narrative would start to drag and become distracting to the reader. As stated earlier the most potent poetic element in Tate’s work is his turns at the end which act as epiphanies, revelations, and in some cases a parable. In “The Guilty One”, the epiphany works differently. Instead of just having an image or narrative build up to one, we see the epiphany taking shape quite early and grow. The epiphany begins in lines 8-9 which act as a harmless remark by the narrator that eventually grows in tension and emotion, “But he doesn’t laugh. I don’t know how he/stays alive he’s so guilt ridden.” (Lines 8-9). The epiphany has a growing effect and almost as bottling such emotion for the narrator can’t be contained neither could the words on the page which results in dialogue, which works as an end line, that summarizes the disgust, truth, and stress dealing with such self-loathers, “By refusing everything, he is having it twice./Jessie alone is starving the planet./His gluttony is making me ill.? ‘Jessie,’ I say, ‘go home and eat what’s left/of Africa.’” (Lines 18-22). As the narrator is making a personal jab at Jessie, Tate is making a political jab at those you live there life in such a manner. Tate is also masterful with starting with a relatable image or scenario that turns into this weird venture which eventually returns pack to that earlier image. But by the end the, even though the image is the same, its meaning has drastically changed. In lines 3-4 of “The Guilty One” the narrator offers Jessie a sandwich, which he refuses in a cliché statement. The sandwich makes its return on the final lines but ironically is announced as Africa playing of Jessie’s earlier comment. As Jessie’s Africa comment was the start of his self-loathing and embodiment of his behavior it turned into the outlet of frustration for the narrator.
“The Diagnosis” is an interesting poem to follow “The Guilty One” in terms that the previous poem dealt with the sickening of self-loathing. The main theme proposed in this poem is dealing with the inevitability of the death of loved ones. The comedic/ironic twist presented in the narrative of sixty year old Lincoln being told he has fort more years left to live is that we are all technically dying. Tate tells readers to get your affairs with your loved ones in order now because you are dying from age and also you can go at any time. The humor is excellent and complements a serious topic nicely. The first few lines are just as weird as they are hilarious because you do not know if you are supposed to be taking either the characters serious or the poem itself. But underneath the humor there is a significant truth. Especially the last five lines which focuses on Lincoln’s wife dealing with the sudden “surprise.” It plays out like a comedic parable that attempts to teach the reader that the death of a loved one if not dealt with could be the death of yourself after their passing. Also the simple idea that you need to treat your loved ones with the mentality that they are dying which is the ironic fact that we are which Tate beats over the readers. The isolation and fear of knowing death is presented in the first few lines through Lincoln’s perspective. But another fear more presented is the fear of loneliness. As he fears of dying and entering this new phase of life, whether it be afterlife or nothing at all, is a venture he must make alone at the cost of leaving Racheal all alone. It is an interesting polarity that Tate delves into, two different perspectives and ideals of loneliness. He not only manages to expand on the definition but split it up into different meanings.
“From Whence They Came” which has a relatable meaning to the previous two in how does one deal with indifferences.

Tate delivers the poem in a fascinating perspective, instead of that of the outcast he describes the perspective of those that feel the outcasts are intrusive to their own way of life. Something that they do not understand or accept seem less significant to them or un-superior. This ideology is masked under the representation of the town’s seaweed eating inhabitants. Tate’s signature talent to approach serious issues of society with weirdness and humor shines most appropriately here. Racial stereotypes and the accepting of one’s culture is guised in the everyday activities and life habits of these “seaweed eaters”. It starts simply by the narrator criticizing the food that these people eat, “There are these people in town who only/eat seaweed,” (Lines 1-2). Then it begins to make a progression to the color of their skin, language, as well as their beliefs. The voice of the narrator is also intentionally judgmental to match the mentality of how everyone else in that town feels toward these strange people. The narrator ends on a bit of a harsh note by labeling these people as “brininess” which means salty, which means looking stupid. Interesting enough the seaweed makes a return image from the beginning lines. As in the same case with Jessie’s sandwich and Africa in the earlier poem, the seaweeds return in the end has a changed meaning, “seeking out/the seaweed source, the packs of carnivores/parting to let them through, not wanting to be/smudged by their brininess.” (Lines 13-16). The brininess is the guise for the seaweed which not only characterizes its flavor but characterizes the popular view towards these people. The components of the seaweed here act as a double meaning, one being literal and the other as a

metaphor.
Tate comically tackles social and political issues with a looney tunes cast of characters as well as delivers content loaded prose poetry in a limited fifteen to twenty five lines. At first glance his material doesn’t seem to have any significant meaning outside of entertainment. But multiple reads begin to unravel the genius that is present. Tate shows by example that you do not need literary devices, a fixed form, or write in accordance to a rhythmic meter to write something that is poetic.