Streetlamps

She was tired of finding

People don't always mean what they say

Park benches seemed to 

Slip away-- Did they always 

Feel so cold when she 

Touched them?

Televisions shrunk in

Park windows-- Glazed a 

Static gray like sheet metal

Under heavy rain or

Shorting telephone wires by

Streetlamps

Doors open stagnantly: Did 

She open them, or were they

Never closed? A man walks

In or away-- What did he say? 

She doesn't know, but he left her 

Hanging by the lightpost

Reviews

[Jane Dougherty]

As with the other poems of yours that I've read, I'm never sure I've really understood. You paint a mood with words, often with a slightly unhinged narrator. It's sort of stream of consciousness and I like that. the idea of park benches slipping away takes the ground from under your feet. There's an atmosphere of things being not quite right, but only in the way they are when we are obsessed with our inner feelings. Then the last two lines— left her hanging by the lightpost—I have the image of a woman hanged from a lampost, wartime retribution. Changes the mood completely. I'm sure that's not what you meant. What image should I have picked up there?

[Meek McGee]

Thanks for taking the time to read my work again! I really loved reading your analysis. I've been trying to find a good way to explain this line to you for the last 10 minutes or so, but I'm really bad at explaining things, and I kept getting off topic, so I'll try to keep it short. Just to answer your question, I changed that final line before posting the piece. The original lines were:

She doesn't know, but he left her
Wandering by streetlamps

I changed the line to "... left her/hanging by the light post" for two reasons. The first being I didn’t want to repeat the word “streetlamps” again. The rhythm sounded strange to me. The second was because it has a double meaning. It could mean, as you said, to literally hang her by the light post. Or, it could also be taken as having left her behind; to be abandoned. He abandoned her by the lamppost. Whoever this man is. Or, perhaps, she just feels as if she’s been abandoned? Or maybe even that’s how she feels inside, as if she been hanged. All of that can be left to interpretation, but this is the reason for why I phrased that line that way.

Sorry if this explanation was too long, or if I didn’t answer your question, but this is the best I could put it. Thanks again for reading!

[Jane Dougherty]

No, that's fine as an explanation. It means that the image I had was the right one, in that it fits one interpretation of her feelings. It means you did a good job too!

[John Anderson]

beautifully expressed and finely written. I love it's depth

[Meek McGee]

Thanks for reading!

[MAD ENGLISHMAN]

I get the impression of someone walking the streets at night. Lonely. I may be way off but that's what this piece invokes in me.
Very good imagery.