Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Aubade" by Mark Wunderlich, the poet reflects on themes of longing, loss, and the passage of time, as well as the subtle, intimate details that form our experiences of love and absence. Through seemingly mundane events and observations—such as a cat crossing the yard or a letter rediscovered—the poem explores the complex emotional landscape of memory, solitude, and desire. The structure of the poem reflects a quiet, reflective tone, capturing the narrator’s thoughts as they move from the search for meaning in fleeting moments to a recognition of absence and emotional separation.

The poem opens with the narrator’s admission of searching for omens, "flimsy as they are," suggesting a quest for meaning or guidance in the small, everyday events of life. The cat crossing the yard in the mornings is the first omen the speaker notes, an ordinary occurrence that carries symbolic weight. The cat, a creature often associated with independence and mystery, becomes a subtle marker of the speaker's attempts to find significance in routine actions. The cat’s presence, as mundane as it may seem, offers a form of reassurance or connection, something tangible to hold onto in the midst of uncertainty. However, the "flimsy" quality of these omens suggests that the speaker is aware of their tenuous nature—these signs, while meaningful to the observer, are ultimately transient and unreliable.

The poem then moves into a reflection on the narrator’s dreams and memories, which appear disconnected, fragmented, and unresolved. The scene of rollerblading described as "erotic" seems both vivid and elusive, a reminder of physicality and desire, yet it remains unclear and ungrounded, much like the search for omens. The phrase "tading this morning like the cologne of someone who’s just left / the room" captures the lingering presence of something or someone, a sensory memory of another person that still hangs in the air after their departure. This imagery evokes the transient nature of human connection—the lingering scent that reminds the narrator of someone absent, and yet the uncertainty of their actual presence or departure.

The discovery of the letter that had been "lost months ago" adds to the poem’s theme of absence and disconnection. The act of turning over the letter, and the emotional response it triggers, evokes a moment of rediscovery and reflection. The letter, like the cat, becomes an object of longing and memory, a symbol of something that once held significance but has since been forgotten or displaced. "It was as if I’d just heard the lock click as you’d left / for the morning," the speaker reflects, and in this moment, time collapses—the speaker feels both the weight of the past and the present emptiness. The act of finding the letter becomes a subtle but poignant gesture of the ongoing emotional process of mourning or remembering the absence of someone.

The imagery in the lines "I think of the body’s / imprecision, the dull tongs of your legs, the unasked question / of each upturned palm" brings the poem back to the body, which plays a central role in the speaker’s memories of intimacy and connection. The "imprecision" of the body suggests a sense of physical disconnection, an inability to fully grasp or hold onto the tactile experiences that were once present. The "dull tongs of your legs" and the "unasked question of each upturned palm" are details that point to a deepening awareness of the ways the body communicates, both in moments of intimacy and in the silent absence of communication. These images of touch, grasp, and gesture become metaphors for the emotional gaps and misunderstandings that arise when distance or separation takes hold.

The speaker then recalls a moment over coffee, where "I’d noticed first your hands, / gripping a newspaper between forefinger and thumb," a seemingly insignificant but intimate detail that captures the fleeting nature of connection. The observation of the hands, a part of the body that communicates so much about intention and feeling, becomes a point of focus—gripping, moving, reading, yet "hurrying on to the next word, the next period." The attention to detail here—the focus on the act of reading and the movement from one word to the next—suggests a kind of emotional and intellectual separation, a sense of urgency or distraction that prevents a deeper connection from being fully realized.

As the poem shifts to its final lines, "It’s night here," the speaker’s awareness of the passage of time and the emotional space between them and the person they long for becomes clearer. The cat has "not been seen for days," and the speaker "pretends / not to notice," choosing to suppress the knowledge of the absence rather than confronting it. This deliberate act of pretending reflects the speaker’s internal struggle to deal with the pain of separation and loss. The desire to "pretend" mirrors the speaker’s emotional conflict—wanting to avoid acknowledging the full extent of the absence while still recognizing it in quiet moments of solitude.

In "Aubade," Mark Wunderlich captures the delicate, intimate dynamics of longing, memory, and the quiet, pervasive presence of absence. Through vivid descriptions of the body, the cat, the letter, and the small gestures that form our relationships, the poem explores how we seek meaning in fleeting moments and how we cope with the inevitable separations and losses that life brings. The cat, the letter, the coffee, and the body all become symbols of connection and disconnection, embodying the complex emotional landscape of love and loss. The poem is a meditation on the ways we try to hold onto what is no longer present, even as we understand that all things, even our connections with others, are transient.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...