Daniel Pilla

Daniel Pilla
Windchime

I found the poem windchime extremely intriguing. Tony Hoagland’s ability to paint a mental picture is truly remarkable. Tony chooses t depict the most minute details, which greatly assist the reader in placing his/herself in his shoes. He describes her clothing, time of day, what she’s standing upon, what she’s doing. I feel as if I am their neighbor, and can see each event as clear as day. I also greatly enjoyed the poems’ subject matter. He takes a household chore, so boring and mundane, and looks at it on a much deeper level. He says that if he were to die, he would greatly miss seeing wife hanging up the windchime. This is a hint to how deep true love really is. To love everything your wife does, even something as small as hanging a wind chime is a type of love that I envy. He notices the little things, which is a quality I know most women crave for in their men. He sees the struggle she is facing with hanging the wind chime and marvels at it. He sees how her ankles sink into her work boots, and the way the problem etches itself into her forehead. This poem represents a breakthrough in me as well. I’ve found myself trapped in rhyming poems, so much so, that I, for the most part, reject all others. I feel that rhyming poetry has a certain sound to it, which is un-rivaled by non-rhyming poetry, but this poem has proved me wrong. In my opinion it flows just as well as any rhyming poem, and has a very nice beat to it. Although I don’t believe I am quite ready to stop rhyming my poetry, this poem has opened my eyes to the possibility of doing so. I just hope I can execute it as well as Tony Hoagland.