Ruin Outlasting Sorrow

Upon reading “Ruin Outlasting Sorrow,” I experienced an overwhelming rush of emotions. It was shocking because, honestly, the first time it was read I only comprehended bits and pieces, I still believe I only comprehend bits and pieces. Yet these pieces have woven themselves so deeply into my thoughts that I find myself constantly contemplating them. The image of the black bear on the gurney is such a strange and beautiful comparison to a cloud, that upon reading one can not help but to say “Wow.” The emotions which were so intricately sowed into this poem are so well hidden, that if one did not read this with open ears, they could be overlooked. The sorrow he feels upon viewing that bear is depicted so simply and tastefully that I am truly in awe, as I am sure one could ascertain by the way I am speaking. Another stanza which particularly resonates in my mind is the stanza discussing the jet. In my opinion he utilized the jet to portray time, and or life. I feel this way because he states “Whenever anybody turns backward, it doesn’t delay the flight.” I look at this line as depicting those who reminisce. As one looks back on their lives, on their prior accomplishments, on the struggles they have faced, it does not stop time from continuing on. We can look back on our past, but those who obsess, lose the present. This poem has also mastered the three requirements of a “good” poem according to Frost. It has an overstatement in the first stanza by stating that “if we ever get free of our hungry world” all we will have is “The body.” He has a statement in the line “it looked like a cloud on a gurney. It looked intact,” he is stating how he feels. Lastly he has a giant understatement in the line “I still feel the desire to bury it.” There is so much emotion in that line, so much pain which still afflicts him to this day, yet he covers it up so brilliantly and simply in this line.
Daniel Pilla