Response to "What Ely Was"

My interpretation of "What Ely Was" is kind of out there. I think it is about the author's unsatisfied hunger for intellect(or something else) that she isn't getting, or can't get in her hometown of Ely. I know that sounds crazy, so here's why...

So Lynn Emanuel certainly has a knack for portraying strong description and vivid images, and she does so in only a few words. Very admirable. Just like in “Whites,” she uses a list of similar things to communicate through poetry. In “What Ely Was,” she does the list thing with foods! This is great because in addition to brilliant imagery she also appeals to the sense that is probably least described in literature…taste.

Coupling taste with imagery, this poem works well to describe Ely, (or what Ely once was, which I’ve assumed is a small town) via food. (Maybe Ely was Lynn Emanuel’s hometown?) Anyway, I’d say that when most people picture a feast or plan a large meal it involves a lot of color, a variety of different foods, and the foods that we associate with home, holidays, and/or childhood. The poem “What Ely Was,” exercises the use of description and imagery to communicate taste by providing all of these elements. Notice though, she never actually talks about physical taste on her tongue/taste buds.

In the beginning, we’ve got mauve as a backdrop to set the stage (maybe the tablecloth), then ocher (a yellowish brown color) tamales, dark gravy, white knuckles to describe corn, gleaming fats, blackened toast, which must be very black because it is compared to tar or shingles on a roof, blue glass with plum inside, green plantain, mustard, red tomato, rice and black beans (cool, direct contrast), and cayenne. These are all very distinct and different colors. They deliver strong and sure images to our minds. Also, they help to communicate variety; my next point.

The variety shown here is informative in many ways when I go to interpret this poem. Assuming my whole hometown theory is correct, I’d say the foods listed, especially closer to the beginning and middle, are foods that Emanuel’s family ate. Also, I’d conclude that they tell us a lot about the culture, time period, and geographic area of Ely. Casserole, hominy, Oleo, jam, and plum preserve all make me think of a country or more rural area, and a time when people grew more in gardens rather than buying things like jam in grocery stores.

The variety of foods changes towards the bottom of the poem with the line “I longed for…” Here we’ve got chocolate, plantain, mustard, red tomato (as opposed to…green tomatoes?), Haut-Brion (I think is a wine), Moroccan olives, and rice a black beans. These foods all seem to be categorized as from other places or rare to find in Ely. They represent what Ely is not, and when Emanuel states that she longs for them, perhaps she is saying she wants to travel or explore life outside of Ely. This interpretation makes the last sentence more meaningful to me. “…a kingdom where my hunger fit, both mind and body, all of it.” Just as a side note, when she mentions mind here maybe she feels some sort of intellectual hunger that Ely can’t fulfill. As mentioned earlier in the poem she knows of pigeons which most associate with urban areas and city life, she knows the mold under the cap of plum preserves is there and refers to it as Penicillin, and she knows that Moroccan olives are traditionally eaten with cayenne. These ideas hint that she has been out of Ely (either mentally or physically) and certainly still has a need to be.

One more thing…

To me Ely, person or place, whatever it/he is, doesn’t matter so much because either way, Ely is a character in this poem. Ely is characterized through terms that give a colloquial feel. If Ely is indeed a place, this really drives and strengthens the conflict between being in Ely and being elsewhere.

Lastly, I'd say, it is absolutely brilliant to use food to communicate all of this this!

-Rachel Alberico