"The Halo That Would Not Light" Poetry Blog.

The Halo That Would Not Light
When, after many years, the raptor beak
Let loose of you,

                         He dropped your tiny body
In the scarab-colored hollow

                         Of a carriage, left you like a finch
Wrapped in its nest of linens wound

With linden leaves in a child's carboard box.

Tonight the wind is hover-

Hunting as the leather seats of swings go back
And forth with no one in them

As certain and invisible as
                         Red scarves silking endlessly

From a magician's hollow hat
                         And the spectacular catastrophe

Of your endless childhood
                                                  Is done.
-Lucie Brock-Broido

     My first observation of this poem is its structure and arrangement of the lines. There are many indentations and spaces that create a certain drama. The spaces put an intenstity in between the sentences and adds to the sharp and somber tone.
     As to the meaning of the poem, I like to go stanza by stanza or, in this case, line by line. To me, the beginning seems to be replacing the idea of the stork that drops off babies with a raptor; this creates already a sad idea. The raptor dropped "you" into the hollow of a carriage as if "you" were wrapped in a nest-like thing of linden leaves like a finch. This example of the helpless bird wrapped up and stuck in a child's cardboard box is a vivid image that helps enhance the tone and main idea. Then, it goes on to describe the swaying of empty swings in the wind and how there are similar to red scarves coming out of a magic hat. These empty swings being "hunted" by the wind adds to the somber and slightly cold tone of the poem. Finally, it says that the "spectacular catastrophe of your endless childhood is done." I'm not exactly sure what that last line means, but I think it has something to do with the end of the magic that goes along with childhood and innocence. It is a very strong ending with the impact of the "is done" at the very bottom right of the poem.
     I'd like to understand how the title relates to the poem, but I can't think of how it does.