Marks
by
Linda Pastan
by
Linda Pastan
|
That's Linda Pastan. I love her! Well, I love her poetry.
Her poem Marks really speaks to me, and for me. I relate to how the speaker feels. Everyone is grading my life, and they take my hard work for granted. It gets old. I can only imagine how difficult being a wife and mother is, but being a daughter, friend, lover, student, employee, and general good person is already difficult. There is not enough gratitude in the world. People need to appreciate other people more.
While reading this poem, I understood the tone almost immediately when it started out by telling us that her husband graded her dinner. The tone is resentful, annoyed. By the fourth line, I was outraged. I don't care how good the speaker is in bed, her husband better give her an A+ simply for effort is nothing else.
The son sounds like a typical self-centered, angsty teenager who doesn't understand empathy. He represents the kind of people we have to just ignore. At least the daughter gives the speaker a pass instead of a fail. That's something. You can't please all the people all the time.
The last phrase really resonates with me. "Wait 'til they learn // I'm dropping out." I have felt that way countless times in my life. I want to be happy for the speaker, but at the same time, I am sad for the family. Being the kind of person that I am, while I understand and empathize with the speaker, I also just want to fix this family.
What do you think "im dropping out" means? At first I thought she might have meant suicide but the tone of the poem is fairly humorous and light. How will she avoid being graded by those around her?
ReplyDeleteAt this point in my life, I completely related to this poem, too. I could just feel the anger boiling up out of her as she looks at her husband. It's perfect imagery from a poem that is so blunt and plain. I love that you say she should get an A+ in bed just for effort. I think I would be tempted to drop out too if this was my day-to-day.
ReplyDeleteGabriel-- I didn't think of dropping out as suicide. But maybe as to stop trying or even as drastic as divorce.
ReplyDeleteRachel-- I agree with you, as much as I want to be angry with the family for judging the mother. I also like to imagine a joined family working together. I want change, not for the speaker and the family to give up!