Waiting for my foot to ring

After reading and commenting on Grooming and My New Neighbor, I have definitely gotten used to Bob Hicok’s style of writing. I know I have said this before, but if his poems are not a great representation of a stream of consciousness then I do not know what is. Waiting for my foot to ring is no exception. If I had to describe this poem as a whole, it almost seems that each line represents a different reaction to an ink blot test. It may sound strange, but I have no other way to describe the sheer randomness of this poem. Although I feel this way, the first fifteen or so lines actually produce a remarkable image. The first two lines depict a man worrying/thinking about someone having surgery on their stomache. Instead of making this image simple, Hicok makes the voice of the poem wonder whether his stomach is being held by a nurse or placed on a table “built to hold the stomach.” A strange image for sure, but it definitely held my attention. The next two lines read:

The operation began an hour ago when an eastern blue jay
landed on the gate that belonged to a fence years gone.

These two lines, for me, were my favorite of the entire poem. First off, they depict a clear image of an eastern blue jay perching on a gate. But these lines also reference back to the operation in the first two lines. I was unable to connect the operation to the timing of the blue jay on the fence, but then I realized how simple it really was. Instead of saying the operation began an hour ago, the voice of the poem linked the timing of the operation to an event he remembers happening an hour ago. This may be too simple to comment on but I could relate to this phenomenon quite well. How true is it that when something memorable happens, we can remember even the most subtle of details. I could imagine that the voice of the poem would not have remembered this bird if he would not have had the operation on his mind.

It’s interesting because as I write down my thoughts about this poem, it seems to be making more sense to me. The multitude of strange images may represent the strange things we notice when we are worried about someone or something. This point is even further strengthened through the line, “It could be true that most operations are common;” this shows that the voice is obviously worried about the operation and is convincing himself that it is common surgery and it will turn out fine. The ending just seems too perfect now, “This is the working hypothesis of my waiting.” After placing all of the pieces together, you learn the person having surgery is his father.

The title obviously points to the line in the poem that says the voice of the poem has his foot on the phone he stole from the University of Michigan. The phone is described as black with a dial; like it wants to be a safe. This is why I have taken a liking to Hicok’s writing; he does such a fantastic job of turning the mundane into the extraordinary.

-----Albert Sementa