"The Possibility" Poetry Blog.

The Possibility

The lizard on the wall, engrossed,
The sudden silence from the wood
Are telling me that I have lost
The possibility of good.

I know this flower is beautiful
And yesterday it seemed to be,
It opened like a crimson hand.
It was not beautiful to me.

I know that work is beautiful.
It is a boon. It is a good.
Unless my working were a way
Of squandering my solitude.

And solitude was beautiful
When I was sure that I was strong.
I thought it was a medium
In which to grow, but I was wrong.

The jays are swearing in the wood.
The lizard moves with ugly speed.
The flower closes like a fist.
The possibility recedes.

               -James Fenton

 

     This poem is basically about a person's view on beauty and they are seeing it in an unusual way. James Fenton describes things that used to be beautiful, but now they are ruined because something about himself changed. The rhythm and rhyme makes the poem flow really well and it fits the idea; it flows like beauty, although, each stanza ends strongly with a different sound and feeling than it began with. The antecedant scenario may have been James Fenton contemplating beauty, the changes in his life that have made things uglier, or a new viewpoint of beauty itself. The tone is honest, a little melancholy, and reflective. It makes me wonder and feel a bit sad.