Monologue at nine am.

Monologue at Nine A.M. ..Louise Gluck

“it’s no small thing, this coming

To this cantibile. Living

With him been fever from outset

Sixteen years ago. For sixteen years I’ve sat

?And??waited for things to get better. I have to laugh.?

You know, I used to dream that I might ebb to death

Or else he fall in love again And turn the hose

On someone else. Well, I suppose he has.

I thought I sensed an absence, and today he left his poached

Egg staring like a dying eye, his toast untouched.”??????

Thoughts

A.????Captures??the reluctance to accept that the relationship is over.

B.????The use of the word?fever?night??that this relationship was hot but diseased from the very start.

C.?????The phrase?ebb to death??jumps from the page and it’s sad to behold. Surely, it indicates the slow spiritual decline of the person involved and the emotional defeat. A lingering, slow descent into the emotional abyss.

D.????Human beings hold out for relationship??to improve and to regress to the loving starting point. Avoidance and sticking one’s head in the sand.

E.?????Turn the hose?on someone else, Perhaps highlights how damp and destructive his behaviour has become. It suggests that this negative aspect is part of his personality.

F.?????There is sadness in the phrase or the thought that he will love her wildly again, like in the beginning. Holding hope for the improbable or impossible.

G.????The cognitive torture and the uncertainty and a slim hope of thinking that the partner is invested in the relationship still.

H.????Wonderful closing line, which by imagery and observation convey that this partner is not present in the relationship. Indeed, suggests that he lacks the courage and conviction to say it is over. People talk through their actions and the rejection of the breakfast is a symbol of disconnection.

I.??????The use of the word dying??is wonderful and deliberately picked as their relationship is certainly dying. Clear and precise message.

J.??????Using the term?dying eye,?suggests to??me??there is little or no eye contact left.Eye contact being a central behaviour with couples in love.?

K.?????Words and phrases that make an impression on??me,?Fever, Ebb to death,Turn the hose,Dying Eye.

L.?????Love how the poet uses toast and poached egg, to signify the realisation that this is over. The Banality and ordinariness of the items which convey the message.

m. Monologue, talking aloud to oneself in the kitchen despite the audience of one. No interaction or response. No interest, communications gone, relationship gone.