Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Confession" by Norman Dubie is a hauntingly vivid and surreal poem that weaves a narrative of intrigue, violence, and voyeurism. Through rich, dark imagery, Dubie explores themes of mortality, guilt, and the detached observation of chaos and destruction.

The poem begins with a strikingly bizarre and arresting image: a woman whose eyes "Are fat with belladonna" and who is adorned only with "small painted turtles" drinking a mix of rum and milk from her navel. This image sets a tone of exotic decadence and impending doom, as belladonna, commonly known as deadly nightshade, is both a hallucinogen and a poison.

This scene transitions into a broader, equally chaotic tableau involving ships in a harbor described as being "loosely allied / Like casks floating in bilge." This simile suggests a fragile alliance, prone to disintegration, much like the societal and moral decay depicted throughout the poem. The image of the ships, coupled with the fleeting lights, introduces a sense of instability and transience.

Dubie then shifts the scene to a more explicit narrative of societal collapse: the impending execution of a General, the frenzied search for his children, and the horrific spectacle of people leaping from a burning hotel. The juxtaposition of journalists choosing to take the elevator, stepping nonchalantly over corpses, underscores a theme of desensitization to violence and calamity, highlighting the banality of evil in moments of crisis.

The most chilling turn in the poem comes when the corpses "get up and follow the journalists," a surreal twist that blurs the line between life and death, observer and participant. This movement of the corpses suggests that the impact of witnessing such horrors cannot be passively contained; it follows and haunts the observers, implicating them in the scene.

The poem concludes with a reflection on the nature of the observer's emotional detachment: "It’s unfair that while rehearsing / For death they actually succumbed to it." This line speaks to the inevitability of death and the futility of preparation against the finality of fate. The observation that "no one sobs" reinforces the theme of desensitization, while the description of "Shirts and dresses billowing as they fall" captures a moment of tragic beauty amidst the horror.

Finally, Dubie closes with the insight that something "inhuman" within the observer has allowed them to watch these events unfold without succumbing to loneliness or despair. This "inhuman" aspect acts "like a mob," suggesting both the collective dispassion of a crowd and the protective deindividuation that can occur within groups. This separation from human emotion and connection is presented ambiguously, as both a survival mechanism and a profound loss.

Overall, "Confession" is a powerful meditation on the human capacity to observe and indirectly participate in violence and tragedy without direct emotional engagement. The poem challenges the reader to consider the moral implications of such detachment and the complex interplay of human instincts for self-preservation against the backdrop of societal breakdown.

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