Poem for Underdog

Matthew Rohrer
This poem is really great. After the first line where Rohrer sets up the strange scene by writing that he has seen what other people “have only dreamed they’ve seen,” he writes one of the best lines of the poem: “I have seen underdog in startling full-color/on a black and white TV.” The structure of the line works very well to state an impossibility as a matter-of-fact situation that creeps up on the reader.
The poem is filled with references and allusions to drug use, some more obvious than others, but the poem stays away from being dopey (no pun intended, kinda). Even with the specific mention of “illicit mushroom activities” Rohrer keeps the poem grounded and interesting.
Some of the reasons this poem stays solid and accessible are the lines which deal more with issues of the everyday and are placed effortlessly in the mix. Like the line which references the cashier at Sears. This line presents a tangible scene and a person who everyone can picture if not remember even.
The line that follows gives the poem a personal touch. It relates an image of an odd cloud hanging over the house of the speaker’s grandparents. This is unsettling and a little foreboding. It makes the reader wonder about the speaker’s connection to his family and what happened at the house.
The last stanza is very comforting and ties the poem together. It references back to the first line by repeating the idea that he has done what other people have only dreamed they’ve done. and the fact that the line refers to looking in a mirror ties in the idea of a better sense of self-awareness and inward perspective that is often found through psychedelics.

-wes edmond