Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Marge Piercy’s poem "Long Night of the Incomplete" captures the profound sense of unfinished business and lingering regret that often accompanies the human experience, especially in the face of loss and the inexorable passage of time. Through rich imagery and poignant reflections, Piercy delves into themes of mortality, memory, and the haunting nature of things left unsaid.

The poem opens with a stark winter scene: "In the brief light of the solstice / the wall of ice presses in, inex- / orable glacier, glinting cliffs / casting long blue shadows." The imagery of an "inexorable glacier" and "glinting cliffs" sets a tone of harshness and inevitability. The "brief light of the solstice" suggests a fleeting moment of clarity or insight amidst a vast, encroaching darkness. The "long blue shadows" cast by the cliffs emphasize the cold, unyielding nature of this landscape, mirroring the internal emotional landscape of the speaker.

Piercy then introduces the natural world as a backdrop to human concerns: "The birds are avid at the feeders. / The squirrels jostle them. / A coyote lurked at the foot / of the drive last night, then / turned smoke." The birds and squirrels, with their frantic activity, contrast with the lurking presence of the coyote, which transforms into "smoke." This transformation adds an element of the surreal, suggesting the elusive and ephemeral nature of life and threats that are both real and intangible.

The poem shifts to a more personal note with the speaker's attempts to "coax / the cats in before dusk / threatens." This domestic detail grounds the poem in everyday life, while the looming dusk symbolizes impending danger or loss. The "wind whooshes / in the chimney" further evokes a sense of unease and the relentless presence of nature’s forces.

Piercy reflects on the impact of her mother’s death: "The death of my mother: / a tooth extracted years ago / yet the tongue still probes." This metaphor powerfully conveys the enduring pain of loss, likening it to an extracted tooth that continues to be felt. The "tongue still probes" at the gap, indicating a persistent need to touch and revisit the site of loss, highlighting the difficulty of moving on from such a profound absence.

The stanza "We fence, we fight, we pry, / we protect armored like goalies, / we lie, we promise, we fudge, / we are bribed and coerced" depicts the complex and often contradictory behaviors humans engage in to navigate relationships and protect themselves. The imagery of being "armored like goalies" suggests a defensive stance, emphasizing the effort to guard oneself against emotional harm.

Piercy then starkly addresses mortality: "Then one night it stops - / the worn out clock of the heart. / A silence parched and rusty, / a silence hollow and gnarled." The cessation of the heart as a "worn out clock" conveys the finality of death. The subsequent silence is described in physical terms—"parched and rusty," "hollow and gnarled"—evoking a visceral sense of emptiness and decay.

The haunting nature of unspoken words and unasked questions is captured in the lines: "The words that never got spoken, / unasked questions rattle, useless / beads of a broken necklace." The metaphor of a broken necklace with its beads rattling uselessly underscores the sense of fragmentation and futility, as these unresolved issues continue to haunt the speaker.

In the concluding lines, Piercy acknowledges the persistence of regret and unfinished business: "It does not come to an end, / this long night of regrets, / this unfinished conversation / dying in the throat like the year." The "long night of regrets" and "unfinished conversation" encapsulate the poem's central theme of incompletion and the enduring nature of unresolved emotions. The comparison to the year dying in the throat reinforces the cyclical and inescapable nature of these feelings.

"Long Night of the Incomplete" by Marge Piercy is a deeply evocative poem that explores the complexities of loss, regret, and the passage of time. Through her masterful use of imagery and metaphor, Piercy captures the lingering impact of what remains unfinished in our lives, offering a poignant reflection on the human condition.

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