Some Clouds- Steve Kowit

Now that I've unplugged the phone,
no one can reach me-
At least for this one afternoon
they will have to get by without my advice
or opinion.
Now nobody else is going to call
& ask in a tentative voice
if I haven't yet heard that she's dead,
that woman I once loved-
nothing but ashes scattered over a city
that barely itself any longer exists.
Yes, thank you, I've heard.
It had been too lovely a morning.
That in itself should have warned me.
The sun lit up the tangerines
& the blazing poinsettias
like so many candles.
For one afternoon they will have to forgive me.
I am busy watching things happen again
that happened a long time ago.
as I lean back in Josephine's lawnchair
under a sky of incredible blue,
broken - if that is the word for it -
by a few billowing clouds,
all white & unspeakably lovely,
drifting out of one nothingness into another.

I like this poem becuase I have felt the same way and it just kind of made sense and interested me. Although this poem is pretty sad, I liked it and thought that is was kind of enlightening. It is about a man who suffered a loss and now he is trying to deal with everything that has happened and reflect upon it. He lost someone he really loved and now he has become somber and withdrawn as he sits and just tries to understand. My favorite lines would have to be, "It had been too lovely a morning./That in itself should have warned me./ The sun lit up the tangerines/ & the blazing poinsettias/ like so many candles." The imagery potrayed is so beautiful and it helps contrast just how unexpected things are and even with all the beauty, there is still death. This line is also the only example of a simile in the poem.

I am pretty sure that this poem only has one meaning because it is pretty literal. It is obvious that the only that happened was that the speaker suffered a loss and is tryng to heal. I love how at the end the speaker is trying to remember everything about his life with the person he lost, who is most likey Josephine. Except the one thing I find confusing is the title, "Some Clouds." Maybe clouds stand for memories or time that the speaker is reflecting upon. I am still left wondering about the title and do not know the exact menaing. I thought this poem was okay and would probably recommend it to others. But, I do feel like it is kind of sad now that I have read it multiple times and I don't know if I would read other poems by this author. I kind of feel in between of this poem and don't hate it, but it is not my favorite.