poem about rejecting symbolism

October 31, 2017 9:06 AM

I'm trying to track down a poem that I think turns around the central image of a swingset. The narrator is speaking to someone else, and the gist of the conversation is, "What if we live in a world where this swingset is not a symbol of your lost youth? And the setting sun is just the setting sun?"

It's very short -- I feel like max 3 stanzas. I thought it was a Marilyn Hacker but I'm not finding anything by her that fits.

posted by spunweb to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Are you maybe thinking of William Carlos Williams' "A Sort of Song" or Archibald MacLeish's "Ars Poetica"?
posted by platitudipus at 10:01 AM on October 31, 2017

Response by poster: The tone was more castigating -- like the narrator was saying "WHAT IF there's a world where you're not wrapped up in your own ennui?"
posted by spunweb at 12:12 PM on October 31, 2017

I don't know this particular poem (though it sounds awesome), but the style makes me think of Mark Halliday and Bob Hicok. Don't think that will solve this particular mystery, but wanted to recommend them as poets you might enjoy.
posted by dapati at 1:54 PM on October 31, 2017

I hope this is what you're looking for--"Backyard Swing Set," Thomas Lux.
posted by dlugoczaj at 8:06 AM on November 1, 2017

I'm late to the game here but it sounds like Tony Hoagland's "I Have News for You."
posted by Ideal Impulse at 1:23 PM on November 19, 2017 [2 favorites]