Sticking with yesterday’s posts about the YA novel Twilight, I’m sharing a few stanzas of Mary Oliver’s poem, “Bats.”
The first half of the poem is sensory, but factual. Oliver describes where and how bats fly, capture “moths, mosquitoes,” and their social nature.
Then, a surprising turn in the fifth stanza. We know much about the science of bats, and yet:
But in the night
still comes
the unexplained figure
slipping in and out
of bedrooms, in and out
the soft throats of women.
For science is only
the golden boat
on the dark river
such fur on the cheeks, such teeth
of blood, where women dream
behind the kiss.
What “dream behind the kiss” does Oliver suggest women have? Does whatever is “behind the kiss” motivate fictional teenager Bella Swan to stick with a gorgeous vampire when all the boys in her high school have the hots for her?
Come back for a writing exercise on science vs. symbolism tomorrow…
The first half of the poem is sensory, but factual. Oliver describes where and how bats fly, capture “moths, mosquitoes,” and their social nature.
Then, a surprising turn in the fifth stanza. We know much about the science of bats, and yet:
But in the night
still comes
the unexplained figure
slipping in and out
of bedrooms, in and out
the soft throats of women.
For science is only
the golden boat
on the dark river
such fur on the cheeks, such teeth
of blood, where women dream
behind the kiss.
What “dream behind the kiss” does Oliver suggest women have? Does whatever is “behind the kiss” motivate fictional teenager Bella Swan to stick with a gorgeous vampire when all the boys in her high school have the hots for her?
Come back for a writing exercise on science vs. symbolism tomorrow…The Poetry Friday Round-up is being hosted by Anastasia Suen at Picture Book of the Day today. Head over there for some dreamy poetry.
3 comments:
We once had a bat invade the bedroom by flying through a window on a very HOT night in Northern Italy.
As it happened there were dreams and kisses going on at the time!
Love the poem!
Only guessing here but 'dreams behind the kiss' made me think of what comes next .... in a sense of 'behind' is actually the future or time after the kiss...the dreams, anticipations, desires.
Thanks for the comment, Angela. It's a very suggestive line. I wonder if she's talking about the border between sex and violence.
Yay! More Mary Oliver this week -- The Stenhouse Blog had one of hers, too!
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