Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Valentine" by Lorna Dee Cervantes presents a deeply evocative exploration of loss, memory, and the enduring impact of a past love, rendered through vivid natural imagery and a profound emotional landscape. The shape of the poem itself—a narrowing funnel that descends to the solitary word "art"—mirrors the thematic content, illustrating a journey from the expansive, vivid beginnings of love to the concentrated, singular essence of grief and longing that remains after loss.

The poem begins with the imagery of cherry plums that "suck a week’s soak," an initial abundance that quickly explodes "into the scenery of before / your touch," signifying a shift from nourishment and growth to a reflection on what has been irrevocably changed by the end of a relationship. The "curtains open on the end of our past," a line that visually and metaphorically represents the revelation or unveiling of loss, setting the stage for a meditation on the remnants of a once-vibrant connection.

As the poem progresses, the imagery of nature—pink trumpets, hummingbirds, butterflies, eucalyptus—serves as a backdrop to the cycles of life and the passage of time, juxtaposed against the backdrop of a personal history marked by "the first year of our / punishing mathematic." This phrase, "punishing mathematic," evokes the cold, relentless passage of time that quantifies the distance from the lost love, a stark contrast to the organic, unfolding life around it.

The shape of the poem, with its lines gradually shortening, visually represents the narrowing focus from the world's broad, vibrant life to the internal, personal experience of grief and memory. This form captures the essence of how a profound loss can simultaneously expand one's awareness of life's beauty and complexity while also condensing one's world into the singular pain of absence.

As the poem narrows, the imagery becomes more focused on the "ghost of you," highlighting the way memories weave through the present, a presence made of absence. The "rare bird, / extinct color" underscores the uniqueness and irreplaceability of the lost love, now only accessible in the dreams and memories of the speaker.

The final lines of the poem fold inward, much like the "shedding petals of / my grief," into a "decayed holo- / gram—my / for ever / empty / art." This conclusion is a poignant reflection on the process of grieving and the attempt to capture and express loss through art. The shape of the poem, culminating in the solitary word "art," suggests that the creative act is both a means of grappling with absence and a manifestation of the love and loss that shape human experience.

Through its form and content, "Valentine" offers a powerful meditation on the enduring presence of absence, the beauty and pain of memory, and the complex ways in which love and loss are woven into the fabric of our lives and our expressions of art.

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