Poetry Review

Eric Nelson’s “The Interpretation of Waking Life” addresses various themes of the natural world, loss, family, love, and generally life itself. Divided into four parts, each section has a different theme that is carried throughout the poem. Part I focuses on nature, concentrating on the relationships among humans and their surroundings, as well as the different seasons and the various feelings and emotions that come along with them. My favorite poem from this section was the one entitled “Here and Now” which takes the reader through the falling of an apple from the branch to the ground. It reminded me of the poems we just wrote about defamiliarizing the familiar, because I had never really paid much attention to the way apples fall off trees, and it was so interesting to see that perspective.
Part II focuses on the losses people face daily such as death, the loss of innocence and childhood, loss of intimacy, loss of life, and so on. Although this was somewhat of a depressing section, I enjoyed the way Nelson described all different types of loss. We are too quick to assume that loss means death, but it actually is a very ambiguous word My favorite loss poem was entitled “Our Daily Losses” with a section about his son’s first day of school. Would one immediately classify that as a loss?
Part III addresses the relationships between both strangers and friends, and begins to delve into the relationships among families near the end of the section. Part IV fleshes out those relationships, concentrating on the relationships between husband and wife and father and child. I enjoyed the poems Nelson dedicated to his children.
Nelson writes in the style of free verse, organizing his poetry into short stanzas with short lines and simple diction. Nelson does not use a rhyme scheme, and all of his poems seem to be from his own point of view. Although they are told from the point of view of a man, I feel his poems are inclusive of all genders because the themes of each section are not pertinent to one specific gender or type of person. Most people can relate to nature, relationships, family, loss, etc.
I liked the way the book started with something small, such as the nature and its relation to humans. It seemed like relationships was a common theme throughout the whole book, yet at each part the relationships became more involved and more serious. I liked how he ended with family because although family relationships are sometimes easy, at the same time they are still so hard. I thought it was appropriate to end with that.
Overall, I enjoyed “The Interpretation of Waking Life”. The poems were simple and easy to follow, yet I still had to pay attention to what I was reading to make sure I understood. Anyone who wants to read a book of poetry that progresses in a central theme as it goes on should try this one.